Electron De Lup: The Lone Wolf
by possumm
Summary: Jacob has made strides to move past the less-than-recent disappointment of loosing Bella & has decided to start living for himself again. Somehow though, the magnet that draws the unusual & unpredictable brings a stranger to the woods of La Push & and an unconventional newcomer into his circle. What will her presence mean for Jake and those around him? Jacob/OC lemons/language
1. Chapter 1: Into New Territory

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Twilight, Twilight is the creation of the imaginative mind that is Stephanie Meyer. I only own my original characters and a love of attractive and muscle-bound men. I imagine that if I were Stephanie Meyer I would be too busy rolling around in my pounds of money & trying to convince Taylor Lautner to let me be his own personal cougar to write this. On this note, please don't sue me.

**Author's Notes:** This story is taking place after Eclipse. I have seen the first 3 movies and am admittedly working my way through the books right now to help me write this (on #2), but having three jobs only allows me so much reading time sadly, so bear with me on my knowledge of "cannon."

The Cullens & Bella have left town, Jacob is unaware of where they have moved to and has had little to no contact with her in the time that's passed. Imprints are: Sam & Emily and Jared & Kim only. Unless my imagination decides otherwise as I write this. This is my first stab at fan fiction ever. I haven't written anything for pleasure since high school so hopefully what I write will be enjoyable to some one other than me, I have zero expectations. I've had a lot of fun brainstorming certain parts of the story. I know a lot of people aren't a big fan of stories involving OCs. I can understand why, the ones I have read usually make it painfully obvious the character is a overdone "better than" version of themselves and it quickly becomes obnoxious – I am really going to hope that this will not be the case with my character. Though I admittedly also gave her some of my traits because you have to write what you know, right? I just wanted Jacob to meet some one deserving of his qualities (and old enough to enjoy them too!). So thanks for checking out my story, I can't wait to hear what others think!

**Chapter 1: Into New Territory**

The mountain air was crisp and cool as it blew briskly through my thick ebony fur. I sat, my chest heaving, working to bring my heart rate back down to normal after my nightly run. The view from atop this ledge on … whatever part of the Olympic Mountain Range I was on was exhilarating! From up here I could take in the volume of the forest surrounding me. So dense, so covered, it excited me to think of how easy it would be to get lost in it. _This Washington place might not be so bad after all_ I thought. At least here I could see there were expanses of area to run and hunt without fear of running into inhabited areas accidentally. The Indian Reservation was clearly marked and remembered on the invisible map inside my head, as was the residential areas in Forks and surrounding areas. Luckily again there seemed to be a vast amount of wooded area connecting all of them neatly together. I had spent my first week night's here cataloging appropriate routes in my head for safety purposes. Even if from a technical, mapping standpoint I didn't really know where the hell I was, my senses would do most the work for me. Maybe now I could finally have a place to call home, I allowed myself to breathe a comforted sigh. The forest brought me a feeling of comfort that my previous lifestyle would not have been able to touch. But I was still alone.

I closed my glowing amber eyes, tilted my snout back and released a slow, hauntingly beautiful howl into the night. The pitch began high then continued winding slowly into a bellowing note until it ascended and fell again. It was such a relief for me to howl. When I released this sound, it felt like all the emotions I had been carrying throughout my life could flood out into the world. Like the invisible weight of the loneliness I had felt was for a time lifted from my shoulders. I brought my head back down and closed my eyes, imagining better days running beside my father. He would have loved these woods.  
I snapped quickly back to reality when my acute hearing picked up the sound of a branch snapping in the brush off below me. My eyes followed the sound down where I could see them, working slowly and silently across the forest floor in formation, searching for something. Wolves, _like me_ I thought, but much larger than any I had heard of or studied. _They must have heard me_. I backed up towards the back of the ledge where it met the forest wall, still keeping my eyes pinned on them. There were three and despite my intrigue my instincts told me to treat this as a threat. Just then one of the group spotted me and I didn't wait to see it signal the others, swiftly as my padded feet would carry me I took off up through the forest, heading northward where I knew the tree line had been. Along the way my back paw caught a tree root in my haste and I spilled forward rolling over something jagged and then tossing me back upright as I continued to sprint through the woods despite the stinging in the leg. My ears could hear the sounds of fast feet through the fallen leaves behind me and my nose could smell the scent of their fur rolling off their bodies as they gained on me. Fear set in, but I didn't let it distract me from speeding on. I could see a stream up ahead of me, I knew this point was close to where I had entered the woods and the power I held in my mighty back haunches kicked into over drive. Then, seconds later I could feel my muscles instinctually release some of their strain, my body alerting me that some how I had managed to outrun the group of them or they'd lost interest in the chase. I darted quickly behind the pile of fallen trees I had left my clothes at, shook myself loose of my wolf body and raced out into the human world only partially dressed. I was in some one's back yard so I ran behind their small shed to catch my breath and finish adjusting my running shorts, shoes and track jacket. I waited until I was sure that the creatures that had chased me would not follow me out into the yard, nothing. After surveying the damage on my leg and deciding I hadn't done much more than scrape it up I stood up, pulled my MP3 player from my jacket pocket, pressed play and took off on the human leg of my journey in the direction of home. Admittedly looking over my shoulder frequently until I came closer to the more populated area I lived in.

When I had finally reached my destination, I plopped down on the vintage metal glider outside of my Grandmother's store. I rested my elbows on my knees and brought my chin down to rest on closed fists and asked out loud to myself, "What the hell was that!? Fuck."

_  
**Author's Chapter End Notes:**  
I read somewhere that if you use music when writing you should include it, so I thought I would share with you my soundtrack to our protagonist's first trip into the woods. I'll continue to post songs that I think relate to what I am writing back, creating you a soundtrack to the story. My music taste is all over the place but since this is popular fiction we're dealing with I will probably include a lot of pop songs. Hope everyone enjoys!  
Ledge Scene/Chase Scene: The Misfits – Dig Up Her Bones  
Run home from woods: Diddy/Dirty Money – Coming Home

I've been obsessed with wolves since I was a little girl, describing the sound of a lone wolf howling was really difficult for me because it's a highly emotional sound. Here's a link to a Youtube video of a lone wolf projecting: watch?v=JuOiyfPHBjM

So, what do you think of this mysterious stranger in the woods? What did you think of my first chapter ever!? Are you interested to see who it will turn out to be? The next chapter has Jacob in it! This is my first time writing anything and letting the general public view it, so please review! I was an art student; I can handle constructive criticism with the best of them. The last time anyone told me anything about my writing abilities was when I turned in my English 200 paper, and that wasn't nearly as exciting as playing with these characters. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2: Pep Talks

**Chapter Notes: **So here's the 2nd chapter, which I have posted in succession because I already had it written out. I have the 3rd Chapter almost completely finished, but I don't want to post it until I know at least one person has read my story!

**Chapter Two: Pep Talks**

Jacob Black reluctantly pulled his VW rabbit up to the front of the home of Sam and Emily Uley. It had been a long day of classes at the technical school. It was hard to sit through lectures and lessons on auto mechanics when you pretty much knew everything the teacher was talking about already. Even so he was thankful that his new-found productivity in the classroom was helping to keep his mind from other less-than-recent disappointments. He pulled the keys out of the ignition and started towards the front door. Before he could make it there Quil Ateara pushed open the screen door and rushed down to meet him.  
"There you are Jake, come on man everyone is waiting for you!"  
Jake threw his arm around Quil's shoulders pulling his head down and giving him a noogie as he entered into the kitchen through the front door. Everyone who was a part of the pack was there, and a few of the elders seated in chairs and on the sofa in the living room.  
"Jake's here, we can start now!" Quil stated the obvious as Jake made his way exhaustedly to an extra chair obviously brought in from the kitchen, waving to his extended family on the way. These meetings were usually pretty light-hearted in nature; there hadn't been any notable disturbances in the woods of La Push since the battle with the newborn vampires over two years ago. It always seemed more like an organized hang out session than a matter of business. Tonight though, several of the faces he saw looked wracked with some concern.  
"Sam, why don't you let the others know what happened last night first" Billy Black, Jacob's father began the meeting.  
"Yes," Sam begun and then exhaled, "last night Paul, Embry and I were out patrolling and we ended up hearing some lone wolf crying up on one the hillsides. Out of interest we followed the sound, assuming it would be, you know, a _normal_ wolf, maybe that it was hurt or something … anyway Paul was in front of me for a moment following the scent trail of the animal and I glanced up at it and it was definitely not a normal wolf!"  
"Yeah," Paul chimed in, "that fucker was BIG!"  
"How big" Jared leaned in from his spot on the couch with interest.  
"Not as big as us" Embry joined in now, "but definitely not normal, it took off before Paul could even alert us all. We must have scared it or something."  
"It was fast too, it out ran us – all of us" continued Sam, "We chased it all the way to the edge of the forest up behind Charlie Swan's house in Forks and then it just disappeared."  
"So what are we thinking here guys, random close encounters of the werewolf kind?" Leah Clearwater asked, only somewhat sarcastically this time and obviously as intrigued as the rest of them.  
"Possibly" Sam replied. "I don't think whatever it is means us any harm if it took off at the sight of us, maybe it will leave town. Maybe we all had some group hallucination or something from lack of sleep, either way I want everyone to be on close watch patrolling. We don't know what this stranger is capable of or if it's alone so be on your guard."  
Jake hadn't broken eye contact with Sam as he spoke; he wanted him to know he was taking things as seriously as he was. After discussion over patrolling schedules the room began to filter out as the members of the pack separated to head back to their own homes for the evening, Jake stayed behind in the kitchen with his father.  
"So you really think you saw another werewolf?" he asked Sam as Emily unloaded the dishwasher behind them.  
"I'm almost sure of it" Sam responded.  
"I think it could be kind of fascinating to discover there were others like you" Emily added her opinion from across the room. Sam made his way behind her, snaking his arms around her waist and kissing her neck. "As long as none of them gets any ideas about stealing my girl" he said making her giggle. Jake's father looked up at him and smiled, "let's go son."  
They got back into Jake's car and headed back down the dirt road towards the modest red, wooden rancher-style building they called home. Once he had wheeled his father inside and gotten him settled Jake made his way back to his small bedroom, he tossed his backpack on to the floor and took a seat on the side of his cot-like bed; he reached into the pocket of his dark washed jeans and pulled out his cell phone. He flipped it open and began scrolling through his contact list, he paused for a moment when the name "Bella Swan" became illuminated on the screen and then he shook his head and shut it again. He let himself collapse backward on to the bed; his dark brown eyes staring up at the ceiling he had a short inner monologue or pep talk with himself:

_You've got to stop doing this to yourself Black, replaying what could have been in your head isn't going to change a damn thing and you know it. It's been way over two years, TWO YEARS; she's already married by now, and worse. All of them are gone. You've got to stop dwelling on this bullshit and move forward, stop sabotaging your life because things with Bella didn't turn out how you'd planned. Hell, she wasn't even that good of a friend to you anyway, she gave you a serious run-around man and you know that too. You should be laying here thinking about how exciting your weekend is going to be, or how hot that waitress was at the diner last week who couldn't take her eyes off you. Not sitting here stewing over Bella fucking Swan._

And that was it, he snapped himself out of it. Deep down he knew he was too good for all this self loathing he'd been doing, that's why he'd enrolled in auto mechanic classes, that's why he'd gotten a gym membership with Leah and Paul and that's why he'd scored dates around town with some of Washington's most eligible bachelorettes. All this to blow off steam and keep his mind focused on bettering himself and not letting the memory of his first love tear him down from the inside out. The first year had been rough, he has alienated himself from almost everyone and everything he cared about, but now he was coming back down to earth and getting back to a normal life. He glanced over at his bookshelf to the digital alarm clock on its top shelf, 9:30, it read. _Well_ he thought to himself, _9:30 on a Thursday isn't so bad when you have class the next day and hopefully a raging Friday night ahead._ He got up, stripped off the jeans and his motor-oil stained white tee-shirt, flipped the switch and nestled into the warm quilt on his bed and drifted off into sleep.

**Author's Notes:**  
Introspective moments inside Jacob's head: Ellie Goulding – This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)

A note to Bella's fans from your author: Let me be clear that I do not completely dislike Bella. I do think her character has a few merits to her; I was glad that she chose Edward, they did seem intended. I didn't approve of the way she treated Jacob throughout the series. Probably because Jacob reminds me more of the types of males I like to associate with. Dude got seriously shafted and drug through the mud in my opinion. I don't like people who have a, "I can have my cake and eat it too" philosophy towards their relationships with good men. You don't get to have one person love you and be your world and then continue to allow another person to hold on to the hopes of having the same thing with you out of your own selfishness.  
That ain't cool Bella. No m'am.

Next chapter I'm going to try to write points of view, that seems to be the way to do things around here and maybe it makes writing dialogue easier. Also Jacob & my OC will be meeting face to face! Wait until you meet her, I have been doing a lot of random research for this character (no, seriously) so hopefully you won't think she's too much (even if she kind of is because I wanted her that way). Don't forget to review for me if you are reading!


	3. Chapter 3: Dammit!

**Chapter Notes**: This chapter is probably going to end up being longer than the others have been so far, I realized I just couldn't come out and say some things without lengthier more detailed explanations. I'm still trying to not lay it all out there though to keep you interested though! I'm doing that whole POV thing here for the first time. Hopefully this won't seem weird, hopefully this chapter won't suck! Hopefully you won't be put off by my character's means of making money or anything else about her either. Enjoy!  
Thanks to **Werewolfe22 **for being my first reviewer & follower! Seeing that when I woke up totally made my day & I'm glad some one agrees with me about Bella!

**Chapter Three: Dammit!**

**Marcela's POV**  
Friday morning passed in its usual fashion at my grandmother Augustina's convenience store. There were plenty of customers in and out throughout the day without much excitement. There really didn't need to be two of us running the store. I felt like all I did was help restock, bag things occasionally and thumb through the store's magazine selection. Occasionally I would take over the register while Grandma took a customer to the backroom to do one of her psychic readings. Yes, my grandma does that, she uses her own gifts on the side to make some extra spending money. Though she rarely employs her actual abilities, she says a lot of her job is telling people what they need to hear and comforting them, not what's actually happening or going to happen. It's a total racket but I understand what she means. After about two weeks of being here I was already starting to become restless, naturally. This was so much different from the life I was used to, always on the road with my parents, living out of our motor home, only staying in a town or city as long as there was work for my father there. My father believed we had to continually move to protect our families secrets from being exposed and while I understood the reasoning for this the feelings of having no place to call home, no friends I could keep and no experiences outside of work and travel were eating me up. I was twenty now, old enough to set out on my own, my mother and father had taught me everything I needed to know scholastically and otherwise. That is why my mother had suggested calling my grandmother and going to stay with her for a while. Thinking I could give settling down a try out here if I liked. I would stay with her, help her around her store and try to establish some roots of my own. I appreciated the hospitality my Grandma was showing me by letting me stay with her, but I couldn't help but feel that I could be contributing more to the household than just helping her around her store. Plus, I couldn't expect her to pay for all of my expenses once I ran out of what money I had with me.  
When noon hit, I went into my room, which was located on the same floor as the shop towards the back of the building. I plopped down on the floor in front of my floor length mirror and started applying my make-up. See the store is also our home. It's an old two story house that grandmother converted into a store when she moved here. The downstairs contained the store, the store's storage room, a small galley kitchen, the room where she did her readings & my bedroom. The upstairs was her bedroom, office and our one bathroom, it was cramped but I loved the layout, I would have loved any place I got to have an actual room though. Compared to the motor home's pull-out couch this was paradise! When I had glued the last tiny shimmering rhinestone to the corner of my eyes I filled up my duffel bag with one of my favorite dancing outfits, threw on some street clothes, grabbed my clunky platform boots and ran out to the front of the store to grab the keys to the car from Grandma. She knew where I was going of course, I had been promoting myself and working as a traveling go-go dancer since I had turned eighteen. It had allowed me to make money anywhere my family and I went, there was always a club short a girl and I swooped in and filled those spots. Obviously there were no clubs in Forks, only dive bars so I extended my search, called around a bit and found a new club in Port Angeles that said they were interested in having me audition for an open spot. I climbed into Grandma's black 94 Jeep Cherokee and plugged in the GPS she had given me to use and plugged in the name of the club as a landmark, "Club Tryst." _Well I'm definitely going to be saving for my own car first thing_ I thought to myself as I fired up the engine and pulled off and away towards my destination.

I got to the club when I was expected, about an hour and some change later. I went in and changed into a killer black outfit, the one I thought played up my best assets the most. I always showed off my body in my costumes, I wasn't super busty or anything but I was undoubtedly more muscularly defined and athletic looking than most girls my age, which usually didn't hurt in these types of situations. I did my audition in front of the club owner and the bar manager who I am assuming was the owner's wife from their body language. I danced to three songs of three different genres and nailed it, I am constantly auditioning, so this was old hat to me. The owner and his wife seemed to be genuinely good people, a thirty-something couple trying to bring something big, new and exciting to an otherwise small city. I could tell once they offered me the job that I would immediately feel comfortable working there for them _thank God _I thought to myself. They asked me if I could start tomorrow night and of course I agreed. I changed back into my street clothes, some dark denim stretch jeans that were littered with holes and an oversized grey tank top with some slip-on shoes and oversized sunglasses and made my way back to the car, which I had parked on the street near the club. The door behind me opened back up and I saw Dennis, the club owner's head pop out.  
"Hey, Marcela, one last thing?"  
"What's up?" I asked.  
"What's your dancing name mean, Lup? (Spoken like "loop") I've never heard anyone use something like that before."  
I laughed and called out to him, "It's Romanian boss, it means wolf!"

He smiled at me "Of course" he said, eyeing the hole in my jeans above my left knee cap that partially exposed my large black & white tattoo, the one of a wolf's face.

I continued down the road, dialing Grandma's number to let her know the news with one hand, the other hand gripping onto the claves of my knee-high platform boots.

(AN: Marcela walks out in her outfit & owns it: Margaret Durante – "Watch Me")

**Jacob's POV**

I was so relieved when class was over at the technical school for the weekend. I was ready to get out of Port Angeles today and go have some fun with the guys. It was Friday after all, we had to be doing something, well those of us that wouldn't be stuck doing patrol with that weird AWOL werewolf possibly roaming around. I slung my backpack up onto my shoulders and headed down the street towards where I had parked my car. Just then my phone buzzed in my pocket alerting me that I'd received a text message. I flipped it open:

Saw something that reminded me of you today, hope you are doing well. – Bella

Breath forced its way angrily out from my flaring nostrils as I shook my head, this did nothing but irritate me. I can only assume her new leech power must be knowing when I hadn't had a weeks worth of shitty memories tormenting me so she could stir some up. "Nice" I said it out loud, still staring at the screen angrily as I walked.

"Fuck!" I shouted as my phone toppled out of my hands and busted into several pieces on the sidewalk as I collided with some one who could only be described as a human wrecking ball.  
"Fuck yourself!" the stranger exclaimed, joining me on the ground to collect her own spilled belongings. I stood up clicking the phone's battery back into place and looked down at the human bumper car.  
From up here all I could see was a mass of tangled long ebony black hair covering her head and a toned and lightly tanned arm desperately reaching for a rolling tube of lipstick while the other held her up over the pavement. I could tell that whoever this chick was she had a banging body and immediately decided on returning to the ground to help her. She pulled her now zipped duffel bag back over her shoulder ran her fingers back through the lengthy mass of black hairs, pushing them back past her forehead exposing her face to mine. I inhaled sharply, almost a gasp even but then smiled out of the corner of my mouth, hypnotized. She was gorgeous, an oval shaped face, round apples for cheeks, thicker black arched brows and long dark lashes framing brownish eyes, the color of glowing amber. Damn, those eyes were intense, they almost burned through me.  
"Watch where you're going next time asshole!"

She slid her oversized black sunglasses onto her nose blocking out those wild, piercing eyes, stood up and stormed off down the sidewalk only turning to flip me off as I stood there awe struck like an idiot. I shook myself loose from the spell her vanishing frame storming down the street had put me in, widened my eyes and stepped into the driver's seat of my car. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the headrest, allowing myself to replay the glorious reveal of that girl's face in my head one more time. _Way to go again Romeo, really should have gone after that one or, JESUS, at least helped her pick up her things instead of fixing your stupid phone. Stupid Bella texts!_

"Dammit!" I slammed my fist onto the steering wheel, turned the ignition and headed for home.

(AN: Jacob really brings out Marcella's sensitive side: Cobra Starship – Good Girls Go Bad  
Marcela storming back to her car: The Runaways – So Young, So Bad, So What!)

**Marcela's POV:**  
_What the fuck was that? It felt like slamming into an iron wall or something!  
_I thought to myself now storming to the door of the Jeep. I opened the door and threw all my crap hastily into the passenger seat and climbed in to huff and puff to myself for a bit. That was totally annoying after leaving the club on such a high note.

_Also, that was basically my fault _I reminded myself _Note to self: actually zip the duffel next time you idiot and how about a hand and two eyeballs free when walking in unfamiliar places? So much for specialized senses!_

_Wait a minute!_ I replayed in my head what had just transpired, a little slower this time and without the wild animal rage. That brick wall I had just collided into had in fact been a really good looking guy hadn't it? _Shit! _From the brief flicker of his face my angry eyes had allowed me to take in before I quickly rushed off, yep. He had deep set dark brown eyes, short black hair, skin like caramel, a strong angular jaw line speckled with a dusting of unshaven hairs and a muscular build clearly from the solid hit I took to his body. And for me kind of being a wall of woman myself, he must have had pectorals of steel! _Oh I hope so!_ For some reason my stomach was tense and knotted up over the thought of that crack of a smile he'd made before I …. Well, before I cursed him out again … and flipped him the bird. It had been the kind of smile that a girl could fantasize about in her dreams for months. I shook myself loose of the temporary spell the thought of him had put me in. Started the Jeep up and pulled out of my parking space. _It's probably going to be more important to make some real friends first Marcela before you start devoting your time to hopelessly lusting after some Adonis you pummeled into and then cursed out._  
"Dammit" I sighed as I pushed the words softly out my mouth.

When I got back to the store, I shared my news with my Grandma who despite my less than traditional career choices seemed to be very happy for me.  
"Using your animal magnetism to its full potential are we Marcela?" she joked, laughing at me. My grandmother was not what most people would consider "traditional" by any means, though to me she was in the sense that she was so educated in the traditions and culture of our unique ancestry. It wasn't just because of the whole fortune teller thing either or because our family had all the makings of a Grimm's Fairytale. She was just an incredibly accepting and loving person. This had made me coming out to her about my phasing and my wolf so much easier even if she had already been expecting it. I imagine that lovingness is what also endeared her to the people of this town so much.  
"Something like that!" I laughed back at her. I was so lucky that my immediate family were all just as interesting creatures as me. You can't crack jokes about bursting out of your clothes accidentally or getting briars stuck in your fur with just anybody you know?

"You met a boy today"  
"More like I smacked into somebody rather forcefully Grandma" I responded.  
"I couldn't see him, but I could feel your reaction to him, you will see him again."  
Here we go! On one hand her promise made my heart rate speed up with excitement, on the other hand that speeding up was also the result of nervousness and anxiety over her telling me this. Somehow I seemed to have developed an instant crush on some one I'd only met for a few seconds and also verbally assaulted. I had mixed feelings about possibly seeing him again. She must have sensed the change in my mood and quickly changed the subject as she straightened out some bills inside the cash register.  
"So will you be going out on a run tonight then?"  
"Umm, no, not tonight."

I remembered those oversized versions of myself that had appeared in the woods with me the other night. Even though I longed already to be back in the forest and was curious, last night had made me pretty uncomfortable about heading back in there for a while. I felt like they would be watching for me. At least until I had some answers and knew I would be safe. I crouched down thinking of it and pulled up my pants leg up to inspect my shin from the other night, the scabbing had disappeared from my fall leaving only some slight bruising behind.  
'Everything alright dear" Grandma looked at me puzzled.  
"Yes, everything is fine, no running tonight."  
The rest of the work day passed smoothly. Around eight or nine we decided to close to store early to relax. We spent what was left of our Friday night eating leftover chicken & dumpling soup she had made and screaming answers at Alex Trebeck on Jeopardy. When I laid my head down to dream that night, I allowed my mind to replay the smirking but beautiful smile that my collision course Casanova had given me that afternoon in Port Angeles. I let myself imagine the hard muscular frame that I knew must have existed under that grease stained t-shirt he had been wearing. It sent a tingling sensation swarming over my body setting all my hairs on end. I let a soft moan escape my lips to release my body from the sensation.  
"Dammit" I whispered the word to myself again tightly gripping the edge of my pillow. I pulled my knees up into my stomach, curling myself into a comfortable ball, shut my glowing amber eyes and went to sleep.

Chapter End Notes:  
So that's it for chapter 3! I went ahead and posted it earlier than planned hoping some more character development would catch me some more readers! I hope the few people who are following me right now were not disappointed!  
So what's next for Jacob & Marcela? According to Grandma Auggie they are fated to see each other again; hopefully there won't be as much cursing and missed opportunities the second time around but you'll have to hang tight with me to find out!

What did you think of the club name I came up with, I had sooo much trouble with that – I think Tryst sounds pretty hip, don't you? Hip clubs always seem to have one word names right?  
Other Random Factoids:

Marcela is a traditional Romanian name meaning "warlike" – pretty perfect for a were-babe.  
Marcela's grandmother's car looks like this:  .  talk about a blast from the 90s past.  
The inspiration for Jake's fresh out the trade school shop look was this delicious picture of Taylor:  . 

A picture of natural stone amber, so you have a visual of what piercing eyes Marcela has:  .   
And finally the full cover pic I made for this story not just the icon, it shows one of the wolf pictures I used as an inspiration for my OC:  . 


	4. Chapter 4: A New Friend

**Chapter Notes:**  
Here's another chapter! Thanks to those of you who are following the story. I have been kind of obsessively checking my e-mail to see when I am getting new followers & favorites. I would love it if I got more reviews though, so review away!  
Sorry for the unusable links at the end of the last chapter. I thought it would be nice to give visuals of some of the things I was describing the story but it seems this website doesn't allow you to do this. If I'm misinformed about this it would be awesome if some one could PM me and tell me otherwise, thanks again!  
Also, I just found out there's a club in Las Vegas named Club Tryst, so a disclaimer to them also: I do not own the name of the club, do don't sue me over that one either. Just a warning, they keep getting longer because I keep trying to cram what I can into each chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Four: A New Friend  
Jacob's POV**

It was late Saturday morning when I woke up to the smell of bacon wafting down the hallway from our kitchen. Only the father of a wolf-boy would know to wake his son up with the alluring aroma of frying meat instead of the usual knock on the door. My Friday night had ended up being a total loss, much like the rest of the day had been, instead of a night with the boys I had been stuck on patrols with Leah and her little brother Seth who's mental dialogue was less than stimulating. I tried to block the images of the raven-haired Port Angeles beauty out of my thoughts but she was inevitably in them. Fortunately, Leah & Seth were too preoccupied with their own thoughts to bother much with mine. I dragged myself out of bed and down the hallway to the bathroom to shower before heading back out into the kitchen for breakfast.  
"So, see anything interesting last night." My father inquired as we took our respective places at the table.  
"Absolutely nothing" I responded helping myself to nearly the entire plate of bacon. "It was probably a solid #3 on my top five most boring patrol nights of all time."  
"That's unfortunate; I was hoping we would have some answers by now."  
"Me too Dad, maybe Sam was right about the group hallucination thing. Maybe they didn't really know what they were chasing."  
Then I broke from the conversation to stuff my face with more bacon, a large bowl of grits, some eggs and several pieces of toast. Yeah, I did kind of eat a lot. I surprise even myself sometimes. We wolf-boys had ridiculous appetites.  
"I'll be gone most of the day today Jacob" he had clearly finished his one small plate of food way before I was finished with my smorgasbord of a breakfast, "Charlie's coming to pick me up later to take me fishing and have some guy time, what are your plans for the day?"  
"Oh I dunno, I thought maybe I'd go for a ride along the coast, clear my head a bit. It's Paul's first day at his new job also, so tonight we'll probably all go out to celebrate."  
At that moment the sound of a car horn came from outside alerting my Dad that Charlie was outside waiting for him.

"Alright son, you and the others be careful, I'll see you in the morning if not before."  
"You too Dad, later."  
He grabbed his fishing pole from its spot next to the door and I held it open for him on his way out the house and down the handicapped ramp towards Charlie's police cruiser. Charlie and I exchanged waves and I couldn't help but notice the hurt lingering in his eyes. _Clearly caused by his leech-loving daughter_ I thought to myself _poor guy._ Then I returned indoors realizing I was standing out there in only my boxers entirely too long. I dressed myself in some dark denim jeans, a white v-neck shirt and my black leather racer jacket and headed out to the shed to go grab my baby. _Time to ride!_  
I gripped the handlebars of my black Harley Sprint pushing it out of the shed beside our house and into the driveway, climbed onto the back of the bike and fired up the engine, excitement growing in me with the sound of its rumbling purr. Soon I was speeding off down the road and out of the reservation towards the coast. I let a smile spread across my face; this was just what I needed, the open road of the coastal highway and the wind wrapping around my face pushing harder against my body the faster I went. It was as exhilarating as it was mentally freeing. I passed a car full of screaming college-aged girls, cat calling and blowing kisses at me from their windows which was entertaining and stroked my ego. I couldn't help but think how nice it would be to have a hot chick riding on the back of this thing again _preferably that gorgeous one that flipped me off yesterday_I thought. Clearly I should stop thinking about some one who I managed to make hate me within in a matter of seconds. I decided to pull a totally illegal u-turn and track those screaming girls down instead.

(AN: Jacob's motorcycle ride: Judas Priest – "Rock Hard, Ride Free")

**Marcela's POV:**  
Grandma told me I could have the day off from the store since tonight would be my first night at my new job and she didn't want me to over-do it. So my game plan for the day was to get out of the house and find a gym in town. A personal rule of mine was always to always have a gym membership, that way no one asked too many questions about how a petite 5'8" 20 year old had muscles like a super hero. I always had a workout I could rattle off to strangers instead of the truth. _Oh you know, I'm just a lady werewolf who when she hit puberty had a growth spurt that turned her into a lethal predator and a she-hulk all at the same time. It's just a wolf thing, no big deal .Yeah, right._  
I checked out the phone book and there seemed to be one within walking distance of our shop which would be very convenient. I filled up my duffel bag with a change of clothes and some other assorted gym items, (being sure to zip it up this time) threw on my sports bra, yoga pants, and a tank top, laced up my sneakers and headed out the door.

When I got to the gym and walked through the front door I was immediately eye raped by the guy working the front desk, _great._ After surveying the place and deciding it was just right I headed in his direction reluctantly, even though he wasn't too bad on the eyes. He was tall, had short hair as dark as my own sculpted muscular arms protruding from the sleeves of his polo shirt and the same copper colored skin the hot stranger from my dreams had.  
"Well hellooo gorgeous, what can I do for you?" he leaned in towards me, pressing his palms down towards the table, causing his well- defined triceps to pop out in a clearly calculated move to impress me.  
"I'd like to sign up for a membership."  
"Alright!" he said it like he'd just won something. He grabbed some papers and guided me from the desk over to some small tables in the front. He quickly explained the rates and rules of the gym then pushed the paperwork towards me for me to fill out.  
"So, you new around here?" he flipped the paper back around quickly to read before spinning it back around in my direction, "Marcela Arcos."  
"That's right, Paul Lahote" I looked up in order to read his employee name tag.  
"Well, you know, if you need anyone to help show you around town sometime I ..."  
"Just the membership Paul" I interrupted him, I could see where he was going with this, and he hadn't been staring down at the paperwork I was filling out but down my shirt, _figures._  
"Can't blame a guy for trying" he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest looking slightly defeated but cocky none the less.

We finished the paper work in silence. I dumped my things into a locker and went to work on the weight machines. As I approached the squat rack I looked to my left at a girl who was sitting on the bench press next to me. She looked like she could be related to the guy up at the front desk basically, but with pigtails and boobs. What stuck me though, aside from her obvious natural beauty was the amount of weight she had on the racked bar, I wasn't used to seeing other girls lift as much as me in a gym like this or ever really. _Must be left over from the last person who used it or something_ I thought as I started stacking up my own weights. I decided to not go over board and squat an even 200lbs, after my sets were over I racked the weight and stepped back to rest. I looked over to where the other girl had been only to find her staring wide-eyed at me and slightly shocked. I nodded in her direction, the universal gym silent hello before turning my head back forward.  
_That was kind of awkward. Is this going to happen every time I come into contact with another person here? _I sincerely hoped not.

When I finished up my workout and was headed to the door about an hour later I noticed the girl leaned over the desk talking hastily to Paul about something. As I made my way to the door they both stopped talking and simultaneously looked up at me.

_Okay, so they were definitely talking about me, great.  
_"Have a great day Marcela see you next time" Paul called out to me as I rushed past them and walked out through the door, throwing one of my hands up behind me on the way out to gesture a goodbye. I stood just outside the door fiddling with my mp3 player for a moment when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whipped around coming face to face with the wide-eyed girl I'd just left behind. She was kind of intense looking, a few inches taller than myself and had an athletic build to her, also like myself. I got the impression other people would be intimidated by her or probably think she was a bitch. A feeling I related to.  
"Sorry for the dumb stare, I just don't see many girls in there who can squat 200 pounds" she extended her hand to me, "Leah Clearwater."  
I shook her hand, "Marcela Arcos, I don't see many who can bench the same." I returned the compliment and her hardened expression lightened up some.  
"You live around here?" she asked.  
"Right down the road actually, my Grandmother owns the convenience store."  
"Oh cool the fortune teller lady! Mind if I walk with you?" she asked to my complete surprise.  
"Sure!" I was kind of excited_ maybe I'll make some of those real friends now! Don't get to excited and act like a weirdo though, you'll totally blow it._  
During our short walk to the store I learned that Leah was actually pretty cool even though her personality was very direct. I could appreciate brutal honesty in a person; it told me she was brave. She said the creepy front door guy was a kind of indirect relative of hers and that they both lived on the Quileute Indian Reservation in La Push. We laughed about how intimidated guys got seeing girls like us in the weight area and she found my shutting Paul down to be particularly hilarious. We stopped in front of the store.  
"Hey, the elders are doing a community bon fire & drum circle down at First Beach Sunday, you should totally come. It's to raise money for the Res's school system."  
_Oh my god am I actually getting invited to do something with other people and not my grandmother right now? Hallelujah!  
_"During the day it'll be a lot of people from around the surrounding areas and stuff, but they usually clear out once it starts to get dark." She concluded, looking at me with almost as much hope in her eyes at the promise of a new girl friend as me.  
"Of course! That sounds great!" I replied enthusiastically. We pulled out our cells and exchanged phone numbers and a little more small talk before I headed inside. I joyously explained to Grandma that I had plans on Sunday afternoon and she was more than happy to let me leave her at the shop for the day. She said my smile over this new friend brought joy to her heart.  
"She will be a gateway to great things for you here Marcela" she said in her tone that made it sound like she wasn't telling you. Something I would normally roll my eyes at but in this case I was more than happy to accept this prediction of hers.

(AN: Mine & Marcela's favorite song to squat to, go below parallel!: Flo Rida & T-Pain – Low

Other new favorite workout songs: Wiz Khalifa – Work Hard, Play Hard, Calvin Harris feat. NeYo – Let's Go)

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**Chapter End Notes:**

Okay so I decided, because this was getting lengthy and I don't like super long Chapters to split what my idea was for Chapter 4 into both Chapter 4 and 5. It was important for Leah & Marcela to meet. Her friendship with Leah will prove to be a catalyst for a lot of moments to come! I'm sure you can imagine the fun two wolf bitches could get into.  
The next chapter will bring our favorite hottie back face to face with my OC, in a rather interesting way. I will probably post it pretty shortly after this one as I've been waiting to get into some more action & this particular scene! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did please review! Reviews are like candy in my inbox!


	5. Chapter 5: Trysting the Night Away

**Chapter Notes:**

Welcome back! Since last time I posted I have gained a few new followers, favorites and reviews & I'm major stoked about it! It makes me happy to see that everyone is enjoying the story so far and guess what? Things are about to get spiced up!

Also sorry about weird errors I noticed today when I went back and reread Chapter 4. I proofread over and over again before I post, but sometimes it seems I still manage to miss some things. I suppose this is exactly what beta readers are for but I was kind of confused on how to get one.

Also, I wanted to say to my followers who are also writers that I'm very excited about reading some of your own stories and promise to return the favor in the future! Thanks again everyone! Now back to budding romance/infatuation between Jacob Black & Marcela Arcos. This chapter is the longest yet, sorry 'bout it – hope you enjoy it regardless.

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**Chapter Four: Trysting the Night Away**

Marcela POV

_Holy hell today is going awesome_, I thought to myself and I plopped down once more in front of my floor length mirror in my small bedroom. I looked over my shoulder surveying my space with a smile. I loved having a room of my own, even if all it was at the moment was a mattress and box spring on the floor, a small dresser that was barely half full and this mirror. It was mine, all mine and I didn't have to share it with anyone.  
I cranked the volume as high as it would go on my mp3 player so that I could hear my "getting ready" music without having to put the ear buds actually into my ears. I decided to have some fun with my make-up since it would be my first night at Tryst and I really wanted to make a splash with the patrons and other employees. I winged out my eyeliner forming a perfect cat eye look, filled in my already full brows with some pressed powder and glued on some almost clownish false eyelashes. Then I spackled all the silver glitter I could muster onto my eyelids between the lash and the crease and pulled back from the mirror.  
"Looking good Marcela!" I said the affirmation out loud to myself only further pumping me up.

About two hours later it was 7pm I had reached Port Angeles and parked Grandma's Jeep in the parking lot behind the bar. _Glad to know there's an actual parking lot now so I don't have to worry about weirdoes following me back to my car _I thought_. _Once I got inside Dennis introduced me to club's bouncers in case I should need their help and then handed me over to his wife Kim.  
"Up here is where you can see the DJ setting up for the night, feel free to utilize the stage anyway you like."  
"Oh I will this is a great set-up Kim!" I was so excited to dance here! The dance floor was large in front of the stage with VIP areas and other less ornate seating areas with glittery silver vinyl couches flanking the walls on either side. From the center stage protruded two short catwalks with light boxes on the ends of them for us to dance on top of. Off to the far sides of where the DJ was were four shadow screens, two staggered on either side for us to dance behind.  
"Come on, I'll take you to meet the girls" and she took me by the hand and pulled me through a door behind one the VIP couches and down a short flight of stairs into the building's basement, which she told me she herself had converted into a dressing room for us.  
"Girls" three other pairs of falsie adorned eyes turned to face Kim & I.  
_Shit, I'm actually sweating I'm so nervous – please don't let them see that!"_  
"This is Marcela, she's our new girl, she will dancing with you now."

They all smiled politely and then went back to curling hair, applying body glitter and readjusting "the girls" into their assorted tops. It wasn't an overly friendly or enthusiastic hello, but it wasn't an unwelcoming one either.

I found a mirror next to one of the girls, a beautiful statuesque black girl with flawless skin, shoulder-length black curls and arms that would make Jessica Biel green with envy. She turned to me, "Hi my name's Josephine" she paused, "or Venus, if you wanna go by stage names" she smiled at me and I immediately felt a warmness flow from her.  
"Marcela" I said extending my hand to shake with her, "I go by Lup."  
"That's a new one" she looked me over, smiling and nodding in approval of me at the same time. "Well Loopy, you're in for one hell of a night!" and we laughed together. _She didn't know how right she was._

(AN: Marcela's Getting Ready Song: RuPaul – Glamazon)

**Jacob's POV**  
At around 7:00 I headed over to Paul's father's house where we were all supposed to be meeting up for our celebratory night out. Leah and Seth got stuck doing Saturday night patrols with Sam because Seth was still too young for big kid fun and in Leah's words _She'd rather spend a night watching paint dry than have to supervise us grinding our dicks up on some freshman's spray tanned ass._  
So it was Embry, Quil, Paul and I together again, out for another round of reckless and rowdy debauchery _I hope_! We usually got a lot of attention from the ladies when we all went out together. Not only were we taller, more muscular and more exotic looking than most guys in the area but because of our bodies over active metabolisms we burned off alcohol very quickly. So unlike lots of drunken losers at the club we were always on top of our game, prepared for any situation. I took the initiative of texting the lovely ladies who'd been signaling me from their car this afternoon to tell them to meet us at the club tonight in Port Angeles.

After we'd all assembled at Paul's we crammed into two cars, mine & Quil's, for the ride to Port Angeles. Embry rode with me and Paul with Quil.  
"So these chicks you invited tonight, please tell me there's one for each of us at least."  
"Of course dude, there were like five of them in the car and I'm sure they'll bring friends too, we're golden." I responded. Despite my excitement over the promise of what I knew would be some easy action, there was only one girl I really wanted to see. I wasn't getting my hopes up about that though.  
We didn't have to wait in line; Paul apparently made buddies with one of the bouncers because he came into the gym. "Good lookin' out Paul" I said patting him on the shoulder as we entered Club Tryst. Of course we weren't carded either and as we entered it seemed like every woman in the building took notice. Almost immediately two bubbly and busty blondes bounced their way over to us rather unsteadily in their stiletto heels and mini dresses.  
"Oh there you guys are!" Jennifer, I remembered from earlier as the one who's number I'd gotten shouted at me and jumped up to hug me around my neck. "We were wondering when you were gonna get here" she continued, backing up and swaying slightly a drink already clutched firmly in her hand, "Follow me we reserved VIP!" She and her friend grabbed several of our hands and basically dragged us through the dance floor and over to an area with an elevated couch and a table with several pitchers of different alcoholic beverages sitting on it.  
"Damn, you ladies went all out!" Embry barked enthusiastically pouring himself a beer and settling in between two brunettes already seated on the couch.  
"Fuck yeah ladies, this is awesome!" Quil was already lifting his beer up in the air and working his arms around the waist of Jennifer's other blonde friend. Paul took a seat on the couch also, stealing one of Embry's brunette's for himself. I poured myself a beer and leaned onto the railing surrounding the VIP area watching the DJ and the people now packing the dance floor. Jennifer nudged my shoulder and asked me if I'd like to dance. _With barely any liquid courage in me, this could be interesting. Oh come on Black, you're a better dancer than those other mongrels behind you._  
We danced for a while before making our way back up to the couches, Paul had gone off dancing with one of the brunettes and Embry had taken his to the bar to do some shots or something. _It's kind of hilarious that none of us are drunk or are going to get drunk during the course of all this _I thought to myself_._ Jennifer on the other hand seemed to clearly be on her way, I could tell she was nervous around me. I let out a chuckle, resuming my place leaning against the bars with her. Suddenly the DJs voice came roaring over this music: "How's everybody doing tonight!?" a loud roar came up from every corner of the club, "Give it up, here come your Club Tryst Girls!"  
"Oh horay" I heard Jennifer scoffed sarcastically beside me.  
Suddenly the shadow screens on the sides of the DJ became illuminated and were filled with the forms of women's' bodies _great looking ones from what I could see_, twisting and contorting their bodies in all sorts of desirable shapes to the beat of the music. Of course it was mesmerizing; the one directly in front of me caught my attention in particular. She stood to the side revealing a slender frame and leaned her back down towards the floor letting the shadow of her hair sweep along her backside. Her arms fluttered their way above her head and I could make out the shape of her breasts through the screen _damn. _  
"Now that's entertainment!" Paul burst his way up next to Jennifer and me with his brunette wrapped tightly in one arm and a fresh cup of booze in the other."  
You could almost feel the eye rolling coming from the girls, who were now compensating for not being one stage themselves by rubbing their hips and backsides into our groins. We looked over at each other nodding approving. Another song started up, a fast pop club hit I recognized from the radio at the gym. Suddenly my heart rate started to speed up, not from excitement over Jennifer's obvious affections; it was more of an anxious, alerting feeling inside of me. I looked up from Jennifer's blonde head and towards the stage again. The other girls had emerged from behind their screens except for the one I had been watching, a single leg stuck out from the side of the screen exposing one toned, lightly tanned leg clad in a knee high platform boot that struck me as vaguely familiar. Above the knee was a tattoo of a wolf's face. _Well now you have my attention!_ _Why is my heartbeat going crazy!?_ It was even faster now. Jennifer had moved away with her friend to refill their cups, giving me a better view.

And there she was, my Port Angeles Beauty, she spun out from behind the screen and crossed further in towards the DJ booth, swiveling her hips fluidly, flipping her ebony locks in circles around her head filling my sensitive nostrils with the sweet smells of her shampoo of sweat. She was wearing black bikini like bottoms, a black leather belt with two black foxtails hanging off one side and a bikini top with a leather under bust corset that framed her chest perfectly. I felt like Bruce Willis's character in Sin City walking in on Jessica Alba with the lasso. But this was hotter, her confidence in movement, the primal sexuality of it, it was almost predatory the way she made her way up to the light box at the end of the catwalk.  
"Look at these sluts, ugh!" I heard Jennifer talking and pulling on the straw in her drink disgusted.  
Just then my dancer flipped her hair and turned towards me, our eyes locked into each others, I could see the breath go out of her chest, like the sight of me and punched her in the gut. All I could hear was my heart pounding in my chest, her amber eyes glimmered under the club lights and a grin spread across her face exposing her teeth. _She's happy to see me (personal victory)!_ The feeling inside my body growing more intense by the moment, not just my heart, it felt like there was a magnet inside my body pointing directly at her.  
I turned to Jennifer, almost a low growl in my voice, "Don't call her that."  
"Okay?" she responded in a weird and surprised tone.  
"Holy shit Marcela!?" I heard Paul's voice beside me; my eyes were still glued to the girl on the light box who was now appeared to be dancing just for me, staring straight into me like there was no one else in the room. I stared on watching her body entrap me.  
"Eww, you know her?" the brunette questioned him, pulling back from him with a jealous expression on her face.  
"Not like I wanna know you babe."  
_I heard that one, nice save Paul This guy was on his A game tonight._ I was listening now, my heart rate seemed to have started subsiding, if only slightly.  
"She signed up for a membership at my gym today, that's all." He turned to me, "Damn Jake stare much!? I know she's fine but …"  
And before he could finish or I knew what I was doing really I'd jumped the railing of the VIP and was making my way through the crowd of dancers and other male onlookers up to her platform. When I reached her side she immediately dropped down on one knee and leaned in to me.

(AN: Dancers Take the Stage: Inna – The Club Rocker/ Marcela Dances Her Way Into Jake's Line of Vision: Usher – More Red One Remix "I'm a beast I'm an animal" how perfect!)

**Marcela's POV:  
**And there he was that beautiful copper skinned Adonis from my dreams. I hadn't noticed him until I made my way up the catwalk to towards the light box but then I spotted him. I admittedly pulled a Paul, looking him up and down as best I could while I continued to move to the music. He was wearing jeans again and a forest green colored long sleeve thermal, pushed up over his elbows exposing wide and strong fore arms. The three little top buttons opening to reveal the dip of his jugular. He still had the speckling of a few days scruff on his upper lip and the underside of his chin which made his strong jaw line appear even more rugged. I immediately felt my body react to the sight of him. I felt like my stomach had moved up into my throat for a moment and then quickly composed myself remembering I was still on my fist night at work. So I channeled all the nervous energy and excitement I was feeling at the sight of him into my dancing, not daring to take my eyes off him.  
_Ugh, of course there's some sloppy college chick grinding all over him while simultaneously giving me the stink eye from hell, I love my job. See me staring him down honey, I am visually marking him.  
_Suddenly he jumped over the banister separating the VIP area he was standing in from the dance floor and started making his way through the crowd towards me. His eyes perpetually pinned to my face, like he was on a mission. Okay I was only half way joking about the marking thing, but suddenly an overwhelming urge to do whatever it took to make him mine overtook me. I didn't even know who this guy was. _This is fucking crazy! Also that jumping the railing was insanely hot somehow_. He was at my feet in no time, I dropped down on one of my knees and leaned in towards him, "Who are you?!" I shouted unable to contain the grin escaping my face.  
"Jacob" he yelled suddenly beaming back at me. The sight of that smile set me over the edge; it was perfectly enchanting and unrehearsed, honest. If I had been a less professional individual I would have flown off the light box right then and directly on top of him.  
"I'll come find you!" I shouted and stood back up quickly to continue dancing to the rest of the song. I was now giving it all I had, knowing that I had the all important audience of that breath taking smile watching me.  
The song went off and the other girls & I retreated to the dressing room for a minute to catch out breaths, we were allowed to take breaks and go out into the bar during the time to socialize with customers.  
"Holy shit Loopy who's your boyfriend?" Venus asked grabbing my hand, "He was sexy as shit!"  
"He's not my boyfriend" I responded to her blushing, then looking up with a devious smile, "yet!"  
"Get him girl!" She pushed me in the direction of the doorway.  
I rushed back up the stairs and out into the bar heading the direction of the booth Jacob and his consorts had been just in time to see Blondie McStinkface hanging all over the object of my desires. Attempting a make out session I was sure of it. _Not on my watch!_  
"Marcela!" I bumped smack into Paul's chest at the entrance to their VIP area.  
"Oh, hi Paul" I said, peeking over his shoulder trying to see what was happening to Jacob in the booth behind him, "having a good night?" I eyeballed the glossy eyed, but rather pretty brunette hanging onto his shoulders a step above him, nuzzling into his neck.  
"Yeah, not too bad at all" he responded stepping aside to let me up into the area behind him as if he could read my mind. As I approached Jacob's seat he shot up from where he was sitting all but pushing the girl he'd been talking to out of his way. He leaned on the banister with one of his fore arms, a fingertip slightly grazing the side of my arm as he laid it there. An electric charge running up my arm that made every goose bump imaginable spring to life.  
"Sorry I ran into you and didn't help you pick up your things" he started in almost coyly eye balling me.  
I smiled, "Sorry for cursing you out and flicking you off." He laughed at that.  
"So it's Marcela right?" I nodded at him biting my lower lip, "It's nice to put a name to your face Marcela." He looked down towards my abdomen, directly below my breasts and put his warm free hand around my side, rubbing one of my mirrored scars, three long lines on each side with his thumb. The touch immediately caused me to move closer to him, the moment felt incredibly intimate to be having with a stranger yet neither my conscience nor instincts told me this was wrong.  
"Where'd these come from" his brow furrowed looking at them almost familiarly.  
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." I could feel his breath warming my face we were so close.  
"Try me" he said smirking up at me

_Holy hell this guy was about to make my ovaries explode._  
"Ummmm, excuse me!" an incredibly irritating and high pitched voice broke through the pleasant moment, snapping me back to reality. "Mind taking your slutty paws off my boyfriend, bitch!?" She wedged herself in between the two of us and directly up in my face, I could smell the alcohol rolling off her breath_ yuck._  
_Really? It's okay Marcela calm down, she wants to play. _I glanced at the small tattoos on my wrists reading, "fii tare, fii calm" a visual reminder to myself not to turn idiots into dog food._  
_"Last time I checked _I_ wasn't touching anyone." I hissed at her, staring down at her from our obvious height difference.  
"What?!" Jacob's laughter broke through the tense atmosphere, "I am NOT your boyfriend!"  
"Got a stage 5 clinger over here!" Paul piped up laughing as I continued to stare down the girl in front of me who now looked like she was shrinking under the embarrassment. _I was going to have to remember to thank him for that tomorrow._  
"Well either way we're on a date and you can't have him" she retorted looking back up at me, visibly shaken. I folded my arms in front of me so she could see just how muscular they were.  
"Not anymore we're not." Jacob said and the girl gasped, picked up her clutch from the table, grabbed one of her friend's hands and stormed off in the direction of the bathroom.  
"Shit I have to go!" and I ran out of the booth and towards the door to the club basement. Remembering I was still at work and had to get back on stage soon. Looking over my shoulder I could see the rest of the group had somewhat descended on Jacob, I couldn't tell if what was happening was bad or good but I did notice half way through my second set that the booth was empty. Just like that he was gone again.

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**Chapter End Notes:**

So that concludes another chapter. Hope you enjoyed it, this one rolled right out my brain it was fun to write. They've made contact, physical and mental contact guys! Yay, finally! What's going to happen next, some lemony goodness perhaps? Maybe! Did Jacob imprint on Marcela or was this just lust at first sight all over again? Stay tuned to find out!

Random Facts:  
- I named Josephine, the friendly dancer after famous African-American burlesque Star Josephine Baker. Also, one of her nick names was "Bronze Venus"  
- "Fii Tare, Fii Calm" means stay strong, stay calm in Romanian. Marcela's heritage will be explained later, but this is a little affirmation to herself she can look at every time she thinks she's going to go all wolf-like on somebodies ass.  
- I named Jennifer after my coworker, who is not a drunken mess and actually an awesome person. I just needed a typical name for a typical person.

The other dancers will be revealed in future chapters I'm sure. Now who's excited for the cookout and drum circle? Do we think Marcela knows Jake will be there? Oh I'm already excited to write it! Later!


	6. Chapter 6: Social Butterflies

**Chapter Notes:  
**Sorry this took so long to write. I haven't had this much trouble up until now & hopefully you'll think the wait was worth it. The next chapter is going to roll out quickly because I've been hardcore brainstorming day dreaming about this story. A huge thanks to my readers who have been with me from the beginning and are still following & another big thanks to all my new followers and favorites.  
I'm still obsessively checking my e-mail waiting for notifications from this website!

**Chapter Six: Social Butterflies**

**Marcela's POV**

The alarm clock blared next to me Sunday morning much earlier than it normally would after having worked into the wee hours of the morning. I felt a tinge of pain hit me sharply in the stomach like an arrow, _ouch_. I hit the off button on the clock enthusiastically none the less. I was excited for my day at the beach with Leah, even if I was totally nervous to meet the other members of her tribe.  
I made my way out of my bedroom in a tank top and some boy shorts, running my fingers through my damp hair, which was still wet at the roots from sleeping on it after showering last night. I made my way into the kitchen, sensing Grandma was already in there waiting to hear me recant the night's events.  
"I made you a cup of tea dear" she gestured to the mug waiting for me at my usual seat.  
"Thanks Grandma, I need some caffeine" I said as I poured myself a small bowl of cereal and joined her at the table. I wanted to be sure I saved room for food at the cookout so I skipped my usual mixing bowl full.  
"So, long night last night?" I nodded in her direction as I blew into the hot cup of tea. "You saw him again didn't you, just as I predicted?"  
"Oh, you already know I did" I began nervously stirring the cereal with my spoon as I continued, "I don't understand it Grandma, I've never felt such a strong attraction to another person, it was like being under a spell. I mean, I talked to the guy less than five minutes and now he is consuming me. I mean you would think I had never seen an attractive man or something. It's just, he's flooring me and he's a complete stranger it's incredibly weird for me. I'm finding it hard to act natural around him, I feel like I'm loosing control of myself or something and I'm very good with control."  
She took my own hand between her two time-worn ones and smiled up at me, "Don't worry so much, this will all clear it's self up in time draga mea, whatever is happening you deserve to enjoy it. Some things shouldn't be so controlled. So try to just go with the flow."  
_Easy for her to say, she doesn't have a hungry werewolf inside her_ I thought.  
I smiled back at her as though I accepted what she had said, even if there were a million thoughts crossing through my head. I dumped my empty cereal bowl and placed it into the dishwasher then headed into my room to prepare for the day. Undressing in front of the mirror, I examined my body with my own eyes, allowing my hands to trace the familiar scars on my abdomen, the same ones Jacob's warm hands had caressed so tenderly only a few hours earlier. These same scars, that pleased me by reminding me who I was and where I came from also reminded me that I was a monster, one I always feared would be alone in the world. I decided I had to push these negative thoughts to the back of my head so the positivity from the morning could resurface. Soon I would be hanging with Leah and get to enjoy life as a normal twenty year old again. I truly wanted today to go well more than I had wanted anything in years.

My cell phone rang from atop my dresser, Leah's name illuminated on the screen. She told me she would be coming to get me earlier than planned and was already on her way so we could help everyone put the finishing touches on the set up at the beach. I rushed to get ready and quickly decided on some little distressed cut-off shorts with a sleeveless hooded sweatshirt and slip-on sneakers. I threw my hair, which was now wavy from me letting it air-dry, up into a messy bun on the top of my head. Topped off with my oversized sunglasses I looked like I was ready for a day at the beach, _well a beach in Washington anyway, at least the sun is out today.  
_About 15 minutes later a car horn honked from outside the front of the store, Grandma had already gone ahead and opened up shop for the afternoon while I was getting ready; I grabbed my small messenger bag and headed out towards the front door.  
"Don't forget the cookies I made Marcela" Grandma produced a bag from behind the counter, filled nearly to the top with her homemade gingerbread cookies, which I threw into my bag. "And try not to eat them all yourself dear" she jokingly scolded at me.  
"Thanks again Grandma, I love you" and I kissed her on the cheek and headed out the door. Outside Leah was waiting in a sporty red Jeep Wrangler; I couldn't help but think the choice in vehicle seemed to fit her perfectly. I greeted her as I climbed into the passenger's seat pleased to look over and see that we had made similar fashion decisions.  
"Nice ink girl!" she immediately exclaimed lifting her sunglasses to peer down at the wolf tattooed above my knee.  
"Hey you too!" I said aiming my eyes at the interesting tribal design I noticed on her upper arm now that neither of us were in our ratty gym clothes.  
"We both have it, it's kind of a tribal thing" a friendly voice interjected from the backseat, "Pretty cool huh?"  
Leah rolled her eyes before starting up the Jeep, "Marcela, this is my little brother Seth, sorry he insisted on riding with me."  
"Hey I'm not so little anymore Sis, I'm seventeen remember?!"  
"Oh big wow" she glared at him in the rear view and we speeded off down the road to La Push.  
"Nice to meet you Seth" I turned around in my seat to shake his hand. This kid was totally adorable, if he was only seventeen now he was definitely going to be a full on heartbreaker by the time he was my age. He was also incredibly energetic and friendly, I immediately liked him, he was like an over zealous puppy in human form. Leah and Seth were incredibly easy for me to talk to, after the drive from Forks to First Beach in La Push I felt as comfortable as if I'd known both of them for years. As we neared the beach access I could make out the forms of men and women busying about with picnic tables and baskets of food. My nerves inside me jumped for a minute, _some big tough werewolf you are indeed Marcela Arcos_.  
"We're here!" Seth shouted as him and Leah jumped out of the car.  
I stepped out slowly allowing myself to breath in the smell of salt water and enjoy the view of the dark water lapping around the surrounding rocks and the large pieces of drift wood scattered along to shore line. It was darker looking than most beaches I'd been to but it was a picturesque and beautiful none the less.  
"Come on I want to introduce you to everyone!" Seth ran up and grabbed my hand pulling me along with him; Leah just shrugged and mouthed "sorry" in my direction letting her brother take over for her. Looking around I noticed that all the young men seemed to be in incredibly good shape _they must all work out constantly, or they're juicing it, one of the two I'm convinced. _I was pretty sure I could make out Paul, the one other person I knew playing with some charcoal and lighter fluid over towards the grill.  
"Oh and don't stare at Emily's face, Sam doesn't like it."  
"Okay?" I replied, obviously confused by this piece of information.  
Seth took me around and introduced me so many people, I was overwhelmed by how welcoming everyone was towards me. Paul, Quil and Embry immediately recognized me but were gracious enough not to bring up the club during introductions. Then there was Seth and Leah's mother Sue who was easily one of the prettiest older women I had ever seen. There were Jared and Kim, who seemed to be utterly infatuated with each other, which admittedly made me slightly jealous and then Sam and Emily. Emily was as beautiful as she was immediately kind, she thanked me for the cookies I had brought with me and added them to a large assortment on a tray which Sam proudly announced she had made herself. Sam was more of a serious type, it seemed like he was the unofficial leader of the rowdy crowd of boys that were surrounding us, but pleasant anyway. I noticed Emily's scars, but knowing I had my own maladies, it didn't really affect me much, I just assumed she'd been in a car accident of something equally as awful._ Seth made it sound like she'd have a third eyeball or something._

After introductions had been made, I joined back up with Leah and helped her and her mother finish setting out the large amounts of paper plates, utensils and side dishes for the crowds. Cars began to arrive filled with locals from the surrounding area as the sweet smells of barbeque chicken and hotdogs wafted up into the air from the grill. Since Sam was manning the grill and Sue and Emily were handling the donations Leah and I filled our own plates and made our way over to a long picnic table where Quil, Embry, Seth, Paul and some of the other boys were seated. I was relieved when I noticed everyone seemed to have as healthy an appetite as I did so I wouldn't look like a pig.

"So the rumors about Clearwater having a friend are true!" Jared piped up jokingly. Kim slapped his arm immediately.  
"Yeah, and she's totally hot." Quil countered winking at me; I stared into my potato salad to hide the awkwardness.  
"Oh can it you assholes!" Leah snapped back at them, as they laughed and shoved each other playfully in agreement.  
"Hot _and_ tough, did you see her stare down that girl last night, she looked like Godzilla about to crush a car" Quil continued and now I was turning red.  
"Well she was rude" I responded, "And thanks for backing me up Paul." I looked in Paul's direction and he smiled smugly, pleased with himself.  
"Alright jerks, let my friend finish her food already." Leah interjected seeing I was nervous being put on the spot. I turned back to finishing the chicken breast on my plate.  
"Where are the Blacks anyway?"

"They're on their way now they had to pick up the drums for the circle" Embry answered, "They'd better here soon if they wanna eat!"

Leah and I finished up or plates and then walked down to the water to stick our toes in the surf, even if we knew it would be freezing cold.  
"Shit that's cold!" she shrieked when it hit jumping back a little when the water rushed over her feet. She looked over and me, brushing a piece of her raven hair out of her face. "They like you, you know, I can tell, don't be so nervous. Even Paul actually likes you, and he and I are famously the least likely to make friends."  
I laughed a little and then clenched my teeth as another shot of cold water rolled over our feet, "Sorry, I guess I've never really had the opportunity to really make friends before, all this is sort of new to me. And for the record, I like you two just fine." I bumped my fist into her arm and gave her a smile. Then we both heard a loud yipping noise from behind us, followed shortly by a collective response from the table we were just at.  
"Must be the Blacks" Leah said and we both whipped around to look.  
_Holy shit it's him._ There was Jacob alright, same copper-skinned Adonis I'd bumped into in Port Angeles, same one I'd gotten oddly close to last night. He was approaching the table of boys with that gorgeous smile on his face as they all jumped up to greet him. He was wearing a plaid flannel button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, revealing those strong fore arms again and a pair of cut-off shorts, _fuck _he just looked delicious. I let out a little purr of excitement to myself that couldn't be helped.  
"Um, Marcela?" she took a side step closer to me now, "Are you staring at Jake?"  
"Who me?" I brought my hand to my chest, tucked my chin in and batted my eyes jokingly at her, which she of course saw right through. _This girl's bullshit radar is better than mine._  
She frowned at me, "Ew."

(AN: Jeep Ride to First Beach: Ozzy Osbourne – Bark at the Moon I picture Leah being kind of a rocker chick, so she listens to metal and hey, the music video has a werewolf in it. So there!  
Standing at the Sea w/Leah & Spotting Jake: Inna - Endless)

**Jacob's POV:  
**I climbed out of my car; my father had already managed to get himself out and was headed towards the tables of food and waving to his friends. I let out a loud yip at the sight of my pack brothers and made my way over to them. They all responded, almost in unison and we greeted each other with the normal jabs, slaps and bumps. Today was going to be a good day, food, family and friends, just what I needed. Last night had definitely turned out to be a less than typical night for me, the stains on last night's shirt from whatever fruity beverages Jennifer's angry friends had doused me with was proof of that.  
"Hey Jake, guess what? Your new girlfriend's here" Paul immediately teased and my body immediately tenses up.  
"Nice catch Jake, she's really cool" Seth joined in as a gust of wind shot past me, blowing an enticing smell vaguely familiar from last night into my nostrils. I leaned onto the table top and craned my neck up over the guys' heads and looked in the direction of the beach to see Marcela, standing at the water's edge with Leah Clearwater. My heart beat starting picking up immediately at the sight of her. Several of the guys were clearly snickering at me, sensing my reaction.

"All right, enough guys and she isn't my girlfriend Seth, I barely know her. So shut up Paul." I didn't say it in an ugly way, just one forceful enough to let the table know to not bring that up again. I continued to watch her out of the corner of my eye as I made my way towards the table of food. I couldn't help but notice how pretty she did look today, so much more relaxed and casual than I had seen her the night before. Her bronze, toned legs playfully kicking sand at Leah now as they laughed together about something, she looked up and directly at me. A familiar sensation of wanting from last night filled my body immediately as she pulled her sunglasses to the top of her head, the amber eyes almost glowing as the sun hit her face. She smiled at me shyly before turning back towards Leah. Leah looked over her shoulder at me and gave me an incredulous look.

"Leah's new friend is lovely isn't she?" Sue spoke up and I hadn't really even noticed I'd been standing directly in front of her staring off like an idiot.  
"Oh, hi Sue … oh, that girl, um, yes, she's very pretty." _Okay very fucking pretty._

"Sam saved you some chicken Jacob" she smiled pleasantly at me.  
"Thanks" I said, feeling slightly embarrassed. Last night was weird for me, I wasn't sure how I felt about it, or seeing Marcela here. _She's friends with Clearwater? When did that happen? _Last night I had acted like it was natural to go after her, to touch her skin, those scars, but it wasn't. It was too personal; the idea of even feeling remotely that attracted to a female again – especially a stranger, it was all just too soon. At least I thought so, I think. Whatever, I had to man up and try to interact normally with this girl. _Nothing about it has been normal yet._

After food there was the drum circle with traditional music from our elders, Marcela and I stole a few more glances through the crowd at one another, she sat with Leah and Seth. Seth kept leaning in to talk to her and I found myself becoming irritated that he might be flirting with her. She closed her eyes and seemed to really take in the sounds of the music that was being made.

"So are you gonna do something about that Black" Paul leaned over and asked, motioning with his head in Marcela's direction, "or am I gonna have to."  
"Shit, shut up Lahote, and don't you even THINK about it, hands off." I didn't know what I had going on with this girl, but I certainly wasn't letting this asshole try to muscle his way in on her.  
"Whatever you say Jake" Paul smirked at me, throwing his hands up to the side of him in surrender.

Afterwards, Jared went and got a football out of the car and he, Embry, Quil, Paul, Seth, Quil and I headed down to the sand to throw some pigskin. Leah and Marcela took up residence on a towel nearby watching us and gossiping with each, though knowing Leah I found it hard to imagine her having a normal female conversation. After a few plays, Paul missed the ball and it smacked the sand right in front of where Marcela and Leah were sitting together, flinging sand up into their faces.

"Hey, watch it assholes!" Leah screamed kicking some sad back at us.

Marcela got to her feet, picked up the ball and tightened her pretty little manicured fingers around the lacing on the ball. Then she gave us all a playfully menacing glare as if she was sizing us up.  
"Hey Miss Muscles you wanna play!? Or are you afraid you might break a nail?" Paul yelled the question at her.  
"Hell yeah!" she turned toward me smiling playfully, "Go Long!" she yelled at me and threw the ball forcefully in my direction; I stumbled backwards quickly and caught it as it thudded into my abdomen. _Damn, that was a good throw_. I looked up holding the ball; a wide smile was spreading across my face as I shook my head at her. "Alright, let's do this!" And so the game began, Marcela was on a team with Paul, Quil and Seth and I was with Jared and Embry. If we thought we were handicapping Paul's team at all by putting the girl on his team we were dead wrong. Marcela shot down the beach after the ball, played almost as aggressively as the rest of us and had no problem knocking past a few of the guys on my team, myself included. Embry threw the ball in Jared's direction; Marcela shot up out of nowhere and grabbed it, heading swiftly for a touchdown, I had to take her down. I dove for the tackle and knocked her into the sand onto her back, her arm slapped the ground releasing the ball and letting it roll away from her in defeat. I just stared down at her both of us laughing and breathing heavily from all the running around.

(AN: Fun & Football on the Beach: Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen – Good Time, this is such a cute song. It makes me wish I was at the beach playing football with a bunch of fur balls.)

**Marcela's POV**  
Once the laughter had faded from me being tackled by Jacob we stayed on the ground together; his strong arms pinned to the earth on either side of my head. I could take in his scent, it was earthy and clean, I couldn't help but feel slightly aroused by him being this close to me and in this position. The large silly grin on his face was then replaced by a softer sweet smile as he stared down at me through his dark brown eyes. We were totally unaware if this was going on for way too long or not. We were caught up in each other's gaze again like we had been last night. _And right now, I didn't care._  
"You okay?" he asked softly.

"Exceptional" I replied, my breathing still labored, though I was sure now it was from the excitement of the man I had been fantasizing about for days looming over top of my body not all the running I'd just done. The way he looked at me now made me think that he could sense how I felt.  
"Hey Jake, get off our MVP!" Seth yelled over at us, Jacob laughed again got up to his feet. He extended a hand to me and helped me up off the sand, the now familiar electric current passing through us from our touch once again. I walked over to high-five my team.  
"Hey guys" Leah yelled over at us, "The sun's starting to set, Sam needs our help!"

Everyone walked back up to where the cookout had been, all the food had been cleared out and almost all of the spectators had left or were in the process of leaving. The boys went off with Sam to collect wood for the bon fire they were planning on building on the sand. Leah and I dug out a shallow pit for it in the sand with our hands.  
"Well, since Jake and you have obviously already been acquainted I'll take you to meet his father; I think he's the only one my over-enthusiastic brother left out earlier."  
She dragged me towards a table of what I could only assume were the elders of the tribe. Sue was there and Emily sat beside her. There was a much older man, wrinkled with age who was introduced to me as Quil's father and then Jake's father Billy Black who I was told was chief of the Quileutes. He had strong features like his son, a wise and worldly look about him but also kindness in his eyes. I should have been intimidated, and usually was in these sorts of situations but something about this group made me feel very comfortable and accepted.  
"So Marcela tell us where you're from" Billy asked looking across at the empty seats at the picnic table, silently suggesting Leah and I join them.  
"Well, not anywhere in particular actually." I hated this question because my answer really sucked.  
"That's an intriguing answer" he responded with a laugh.

"Yeah, well, my father is a day laborer, so we travel and go to where there is work for him. I'm not really even sure where the hospital I was born at is; I guess that could have counted as a home town?" I let out a little laugh to show my response was light-hearted.  
"A nomadic lifestyle" he mused "you must have seen a lot of places then."

"You bet, Collinsville, Illinois and the world's largest bottle of ketchup!" Everyone at the table laughed at my answer.

It wasn't too much longer until the boys had turned a hole in the sand and some loose pieces of drift wood into a pretty impressive bon fire. We all took our seats around the fire; I sat next to Leah of course and was pleasantly surprised when Jacob took his seat next to me, and scooted in rather closely. Then the elders took their seats across from us to share the tribal legends with us. The usually rowdy and wild boys sat completely tamed and as involved in the retelling of their tribe's legends as if they were hearing them for the first time. As the legends began I became completely engrossed in them, growing up my parents and grandparents had always shared stories and legends from our ancestral home in Romania, so I naturally had a respect for the oral histories of others. Some of the stories he recanted I couldn't help but draw parallels in my head. I was fascinated; I just stared through the blue flames curling up into the night sky mesmerized by every word that came from Billy's mouth.  
When the stories had finished and the elders had made their way towards the cars to head home for the evening Embry looked over at me from across the fire.  
"So Marcela, what's the story with the wolf tattoo anyway?" all the guys basically agreed with questioning, clearly they were all curious, and given all the wolf related stories I'd just heard I wasn't surprised why.

I buried my hands in my palms for a minute laughing and then rolled my face in his direction' there was no way I was spilling the truth about that one to a bunch of boys.  
"I'm just a fan of misunderstood animals I guess." I rubbed my knee affectionately and looked over at Jacob who flipped his attention to my face and away from my legs.

"I can get down with that" Embry replied.  
"Hey, you wanna go for a walk?" Jake asked me, I looked over at Leah who gave me an approving nod and I nodded back at him. _Here we go_.

**Chapter End Notes:**  
Sorry I know I'm ending this chapter at a very weird spot.  
This one chapter was just getting very long so to keep things in the same pattern I had to cut this off. Writing all this dialogue has been hard for me! Did I do okay? This was actually the hardest chapter I have written so far because it introduces so many people to the OC I tried not to get too detailed on that because I wanted to story to move along. This version is actually the second version of this chapter I wrote. I hope everyone liked it. The story originally started with Jake waking up and recanting the tale of the drink being thrown on him at the club and Marcela deciding to sleep in her wolf form cuddling her Grandma because the store was drafty.

I had to add in the football game as a little homage to Taylor Lautner's real life persona, who is a big football fan and fan of sports in general. And Marcela is a werewolf (well kind of *special hint for followers!*) so she's athletic right?!

Anyway I hope everyone is excited about the next chapter, slowly more things are being revealed about my OC – and a lot more eluding is about to happen on this walk. I have lots of great ideas for upcoming chapters – when I promise there will be more action, of several sorts.

Also, "draga mea" means "my dear"  
Bunica is a term of endearment/ word for Grandma in Romanian.

I have taken to calling one of my cats "Little Sam Uley Cat" because his fur looks like Sam's wolf. I don't know if he appreciates me referring to him as any sort of dog, human or otherwise.


	7. Chapter 7: Strigoi & Face Sucking

**Author Notes: **I was totally bummed out that I didn't get as many notifications as usual on my last chapter and decided it was just a sign I needed to roll out the conclusion to the day at the beach. So here it is what happens on Jake & Marcela's walk. I hope everyone continues to enjoy the story and that everyone will review or comment on it! Be prepared for physical contact to take place. FINALLY! I was almost as frustrated as the characters were.

**Chapter Seven: Strigoi & Face Sucking**

**Jacob's POV:  
**Leah shot me a protective glare as I pulled Marcela away from the group and down the shore line of the beach with me. I had to get her alone and see if there was more to this connection I was having to her than mere physical attraction. We walked in silence together for a few moments and the bon fire slowly began to fade into a flickering light in the distance.

"It's really beautiful out here, you can see so many stars" she stopped ahead of me staring up into night sky admiring them. She pulled her hair from the messy bun it had been in, letting the breeze blow through its length. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.  
"Yeah, it really is" a comment that I wasn't really directing just at the stars. I walked up to join her now.

"So what did you think of all of that" I threw my head back a little, motioning back to the circle we'd just left, "our tribe has a pretty colorful version of our history."  
"Actually, I loved it" she continued walking ahead glancing over her shoulder at me "there were parts that reminded me of some of the stories my parents told me growing up."

"Really?" now she had my interest and I sped up a little to catch up with her, "Are you Native too Marcela? I know you're not a pale face."  
"A pale face?!" she giggled, "That's hilarious! But no, I'm not Native American if that's what you mean; both my parents are full blooded Romanian, that's why I get to have this great tan year round."

She found a clearing in the sand and plopped herself down onto her bottom and patted the spot next to her, motioning for me to join her. I obliged and leaned back, my arms behind me for support, our shoulders were touching now. I could feel warmth radiating from her, not too unlike my own skin, but not quite so much as would make me worry she was running a fever or anything like people always seemed to think about me.  
"So go on, tell me about these similarities then."  
"Okay, so you know how you have that story about the cold ones?" I nodded at her, "We basically have the same kind of thing except the cold ones are called strigoi. Basically they're immortal vampires. Some legends even classify people with special powers, like shape shifters, or people who turn into animals as strigoi as well. Either way they're all evil creatures who terrorize humans and drain them of their blood, creepy stuff."  
"It seems unfair to classify those two things together." I could barely hide the tone of disgust in my voice at that thought. Considering leeches and shape shifters to be in the same class, how wrong her people were.  
"I actually agree with you, but you know, they are legends, their thousands of years old. It's not like it's a science." She smiled at me, "And then we have werewolves of course 'the children of the moon', witches and the boogeyman amongst other things. All things that make you wonder how I ever had anything but nightmares as a child."  
I let out a little laugh, "Yeah seriously."  
"I think I like your tribe's legends better, at least there are heroes. In our folklore everything mythical is a monster."  
"So do people actually believe that stuff over there?"  
"Most people treat them as just old stories now, but in the remote areas and villages they still very much believe in all of it, it's become part of their history." She could see me staring out into the water intently and grabbed onto my knee and gave it a shake, "But lets talk about something else, I don't want to give you nightmares" she winked at me.

"So why are you in Forks anyway? I mean it's not the most exciting place."  
She let out a sigh, "Well, I got sick of traveling constantly for my father's work and living out of a mobile home I guess. I'm old enough to head out on my own, my grandmother lives here so I figured this was as good a place as any to start."  
"I can see your point" I said, imagining how anyone could have gotten through their teenage years in that close of proximity to their parents at all times. I probably would have gone crazy, and then dealing with being a werewolf inside an RV, yeah; I definitely would have lost my mind and probably damaged a lot of property.

"And what is it you do Jacob Black when you're not jumping railings effortlessly and hanging out here?"

She ran a hand through her waist length raven hair, folded her elbows on her knees and turned her head toward me, flashing a brilliant smile at me again. I swallowed nervously.

"Well, I like to work on cars and rebuild them, I'm about to finish up taking auto mechanics at the technical school in Port Angeles right now so that's taking up a lot of my time."

"Well once I get a car then I'll know who to bring it to."

After the conversation had gone one a few minutes longer and we had shared more with each other I began to feel more comfortable around her. Seth was right that she was cool, even though she'd pretty much already won my complete admiration during the football game earlier, the more I found out and liked the stronger the attraction was growing. Marcela was direct and head strong; she seemed to know what she wanted out of life but also had a playful and sweet side to her. Throughout our conversation she kept finding little ways to touch me, like putting her hand on my knee or bumping her shoulder into me. Something inside of me, maybe it was my wolf decided to be brave.  
"You're very beautiful, you know?" my heart began to thump inside my chest again as I looked over at her, even in the dark I could sense her nervous excitement as I said this, her cheeks showed a hint of blush, even under the moonlight.

"I asked you to walk with me because I feel a pull to you; I can't explain it and I didn't want to ignore it any longer. I hope this isn't creeping you out." She was turned facing me now, one of her crossed legs making its way under my bent knees, slowly closing in what was left of the gap between us. I could sense the heat coming off her as her breathing picked up a little at my admission, she parted her lips and answered in a whispered tone, intimately.  
"I wouldn't say you're doing that."

She was so close; I moved my hand down to her waist to the small patch of exposed skin between the top of her shorts and the bottom of her hoodie and gripped onto her side testing my boundaries, pulling her even closer into me. Her skin was so soft and warm under my hands, the touch sent a tingling chill through my body. The air around us changed and I could suddenly smell her becoming aroused at my touch, and with that scent the animal inside me couldn't hold back from her any longer. I took my hand from her waist and ran it over her shoulder, along her clavicles and up behind her ear, letting my fingers get lost in the black mass of hair. I gripped her head firmly and brought my mouth to hers in almost a frenzy of pent up frustration, boldly pressing my lips firmly to hers. I was happy when I could feel her lean into it wantonly, deepening the kiss. She slipped her tongue into my mouth and I reciprocated cupping my free hand onto her jaw line, running my thumb over her cheek. She wound her arms underneath mine and up against my back gripping tightly onto the back of my shirt. She moaned into mouth a little and I could feel myself becoming visibly aroused also and decided I should probably come up for air before this got too heavy.

I pulled my lips away and leaned my forehead into hers, both of us catching our breaths from that passionate first kiss. I slid my face down the side of hers and gently kissed her collarbone.  
"I should probably take you out before I kiss you like that." I said into her ear before resting my head back onto her shoulder. I could hear her heart pounding inside her chest; it felt good to have this affect on her.

"As long as you don't take it back" she said leaning her head into mine.

Suddenly I could hear Leah yelling for us and it brought me back from the fantasy land I felt like I had just stumbled into with Marcela. I hadn't been involved in such a passionate kiss in a long time. Sure, I had had many conquests in my attempts to get over my demons, but this was different. Despite the frenzied nature of it, there was more behind it. Marcela was more to me, I could feel an honest genuine attraction to her, like I hadn't felt in years.  
"We should probably head back" I suggested, to which she gave a nod of agreement. I took her hand and helped her up off the sand and we headed back in the direction of where we'd left the others. I decided to continue holding her hand as long as she'd let me. I wasn't sure where this would go, but if the force behind that kiss was any indicator, I was excited to see where that would be.

(AN: First Kiss Song: One Republic – Feel Again)

**Marcela's POV**

I was doing a very good job staying composed on the outside after that kiss, but on the inside I felt like I was reliving the end of the Princess Bride._ Yes, it was that good of a kiss. _My insides were jumping up and down with excitement to rival winning the lottery._  
_The whole time we had been talking I could feel the intensity growing between us again like it did during our previous interaction; you could have cut it with a knife, like it was something tangible. I had been a little forward and tried to touch him when I got the chance, hopefully he would want to reciprocate. It had been incredibly exhilarating when he had just lunged at me like that; it was so unhinged and unexpected. But it meant more to me than just some hot guy throwing himself at me. Jacob had warmth around him that I just wanted to be a part of, he made me smile and he gave me butterflies. I wanted to be with him, make him smile, give him butterflies. This kiss made me feel like maybe I had a chance to be part of his life.

As we approached the dying embers of the fire I noticed most of the guys had already taken off and Leah was standing there staring arms crossed rolling her eyes at us.  
"I was beginning to worry you'd clubbed her and dragged her off to a cave or something" Leah's eyes bore a hole into Jake. _You can't club and drag the willing Leah, _I thought to myself with a little smirk appearing on my face.  
Jake and Seth worked together to extinguish what was left of the hot embers from the fire as Leah and I threw our towels into our bags and began heading for her car.  
"Sorry about that Leah, I wasn't trying to ditch you" I said tossing my messenger bag into her passenger seat.  
"I'm not really mad Marcela. Black can be a total pain in the ass, but he is a good guy. Just be warned, the man has enough baggage to fill an airport carousel." I couldn't help but laugh at her metaphor.  
"Well, who doesn't?" I shrugged my shoulders at her, "I'm not committing to anything here he hasn't even officially asked me on a date yet. I'm kind of hoping he will though."

We climbed up into our respective seats in the car as Seth and Jake approached. Jake approached the passenger side where I was sitting and leaned on the open door.  
"You mind taking Seth on home for me Jake?" Leah asked, "I need to drive Marcela back to Forks."  
"No problem" then he turned his attention to me; I looked down at his face, happiness spreading across my own as I looked into his dark eyes.

"Can I call you? About that date I owe you of course."

"You'd better" I responded as Leah fired up the Jeep, the sound of her music blasting through the radio I leaned down and kiss him on the cheek. Jake flashed me one more of awesome smiles before closing my door and crossing over to where his car was parked. Seth and he exchanged some words and high-fives climbing into his little red Volkswagen. Leah and I just shook our heads at them and laughed. We peeled off down the road heading back towards my house.

I stared out the window thinking back on the last hour of tonight again. I licked my lips trying to taste if he was still on my lips. Leah was so busy drumming along on her steering wheel and singing along to the song she was listening to that she didn't notice me being lost in my thoughts staring blankly out the window. Before I knew it we back in front of Grandma's store, the lights were off so I assumed she had already turned in for the night.

"He'll call, don't stress about it. I'll make sure he gets your number." Leah patted me reassuringly on the back.  
"Thanks Leah."  
"And I'll make sure he calls you too, it's not every day a tolerable chick infiltrates our group you know, especially when it comes to Jake."  
"Oh" I said a little confused, "He's had lots of girlfriends then? Not that I'm surprised or anything." I felt a tinge of jealousy hit me along with another wincing pain in my stomach like this morning.

"Not really, just one particularly troublesome pain in the ass. You okay?"

"Yeah, just a cramp" I replied wanting to grill her more about Jacob's dating history but also not wanting to keep her any longer as it was really late and I had to get up early to help restock the store tomorrow.

"Well, we should try to work out together this week I'll shoot you a text."

"Sounds good to me" I said exiting the vehicle.  
I thanked her again for being the reason behind me having such a wonderful day before heading around the back of the store to let myself in. Grandma was asleep alright; my acute hearing could pick up the sounds of her snoring in bed on the floor above me. I walked into my room and changed into my pajamas, too excited to really sleep yet. I felt another tinge of pain hit me in the stomach. I climbed back out of the bed and made my way to the kitchen towards the refrigerator to examine the calendar hanging there. It was after 1 am and Monday now. I ran my finger along the days of the week noting the full moon this Friday to myself before making my way back to my room.

I drew the curtains on my window, turned out the lights and tried my hardest to force myself to sleep. I had just positioned myself comfortably beneath my blankets when I heard my phone buzz on the floor next to me. An unrecognizable number illuminated with a text message on it's screen:  
"I have your number now, thanks for the kiss, goodnight beautiful. – Jake"

I smiled satisfyingly to myself and made sure to save the number into my phone. I laid my head on the pillow excited to see how much better next week could get after tonight. _Yeah Marcela, this Forks place might not be so bad after all._

(AN: Leah's Car Ride Home: Skid Row – 18 & Life)

**Chapter End Notes:**

So what did you think of "the kiss?" That's the first time I've tried to descriptively write about any sort of sexual act at all. Of course it's just a kiss though.

I think a lot is going to happen in the next week for Marcela. There's a possible date with Jacob and a full moon headed her way and I have lots of idea swarming around in my imaginative little head. I need to go work on my chapter outlines and do some more brainstorming to get it all organized. Stay tuned! Also, I gave in and watched Breaking Dawn Part 1 realizing that less than 80 days would not be enough time for my to finish the book series before I had my lady date to the midnight premiere of Part 2.  
My thought: Decent movie, of course I was sucked in. I liked that the story was darker, but I hated watching what happened with Jacob and the imprinting scene just made me sick to my stomach. Thank goodness there are people out here writing Jacob better, more appropriate options. Talk about character suicide, any way you paint imprinting, that relationship is creepy. I have no idea how I'll get through the next film.

Anyway see everyone next time!


	8. Chapter 8: Monday

**Chapter Notes: **  
Heads up everyone, things are going to start getting more exciting around here. I have some fun announcements for all my readers that will be listed in the author's notes at the bottom of this chapter! The next three chapters will all take place within the period of a week, its Forks after all, time goes by slow. I promise though, a lot is going to go down in the next seven days. Also I am off from work for a whole week so I'll probably be on the back porch in my bikini writing fanfic chapters so hopefully I'll be turning out my updates quickly.

Thanks again for any new follows and favorites, the support means a lot to me & it's just so fun to get alerts in my inbox from here, I'm jumping up & down inside every time I receive one. And the reviews are awesome too! I want to give some special thanks to some special followers too: **Snowflake1515**: A real life Marcela who has been there since the beginning, **2Shaes**: for her own incredible story telling and advice – do yourself a favor and check her out here & on Twilighted, **tomboy101**: for also being there from the beginning and sharing her fun facts with me! Also for lending me a second pair of proofreading eyes so I don't miss things!

My other devoted followers who have been there since I started: **ILuvKellanForever**, **Werewolfe22**, **bellascorpiona**, **Ashes2Dust18 **thank you for your continued support! Knowing people look forward to the story developing is what keeps my creative wheels turning. Hope you all enjoy this new chapter!

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**Chapter Eight: Monday**

"Time to get up!" my grandmother yelled to me from the doorway to my bedroom Monday morning. "I know they say to let sleeping dogs lie, but this store isn't going to restock itself!"

I smiled at her as I pulled myself up from my mattress and onto my feet. I threw on some leggings and an oversized band shirt I had stolen from my father's collection and stumbled past her, and down the short hallway.

"I'll be back down in a minute, I promise." I said to her before bounding up the tall stairway towards the bathroom. I combed through the tangles in my hair, brushed my teeth and peered into the mirror at myself. Another wincing pain pinched from inside my stomach. _Would you stop that already body, it's getting old._ I headed back downstairs to unload the many boxes from the truck that had pulled around the back of the store to deliver our shipment. A slightly overweight, middle aged man stood beside the back of the truck, clip board in hand with Grandma waiting for her to sign off on the order as I approached the vehicle.

"Now you be careful there young lady, those boxes are mighty …" he stopped midsentence as I effortlessly hoisted two large boxes, one onto each shoulder and headed back up stairs and side stepped through the door into the house. I unloaded a majority of the order without his help; the truck driver seemed to be so awe struck by the ease with which I carried out my task that his eyes just followed my movements silently from the side of the truck. I could hear my grandmother use the opportunity to remind the man about the importance of a well balanced diet before patting his large inflated stomach and sending him on his way. When the delivery was complete we made our way out into the store front and I began unloading the items from the boxes and depositing them on their appropriate shelves. As I strung some packs of batteries onto a wall hook my grandmother appeared in the aisle next to me, just in time to see me rubbing my stomach which was continuing to act up.

"You're beginning to grow hungry now aren't you?" she looked knowingly at my stomach, "I hope it isn't too painful for you."

"Nothing I'm not used to, I'll be fine" I flashed her a reassuring glance before continuing with my chore. "Just don't expect me home for dinner Friday night; I already called out of work at the club." I could sense her tensing up slightly knowing well what I meant by the statement. After all, she had been the one to mark the full moon on the calendar so vividly.

"Just please be careful out there by yourself. It sounds silly but there are people around here who think there are monsters out in those woods and I tend respect that opinion. People go missing sometimes you know." She rubbed her hand warmly and reassuringly on my back. I decided to keep the knowledge of the wolves I had seen from her. Worrying her wouldn't make things any better and I couldn't have her concern for me on my conscience when I transformed. Sure, I wasn't exactly thrilled about going out on my first hunt in Forks by myself, especially after what I had seen, but what choice did I have? The instincts I had inherited from my father were impossible to ignore. Staying in Friday night was just not an option.

"Grandma, I assure you, there will be nothing more monstrous in those woods than me and my appetite." I smirked at her only slightly, feigning confidence, "I'll try not to stay out too late, it's not like we won't be repeating the same shit in two weeks when there's a new moon anyway. And I'll stay on my guard; try not to worry, okay?"

From the countertop near the register I could hear my phone interrupting us, buzzing from an incoming call I was grateful for. Grandma beamed up at me excitedly giving me a look that let me know she knew who was calling so I dashed from the aisle over to my phone as fast as possible without tripping over the items on the floor and answered. My hopes were answered when I saw it was Jake and my heartbeat immediately responded to his voice on the other end of the call as we greeted each other. _Act natural Marcela; be as cool as a cucumber._

"I'm on my way into the shop for my class; I thought I should go ahead and ask you out on that date before you had a chance to change your mind."

"Who said anything about me changing my mind?" _Listen to you, you sassy little vixen you, _I congratulated myself."I was hoping you would call."

"Oh? That's awesome!" It pleased me to hear that my admission excited him so much, "Well, how does Wednesday night sound? I'd say tomorrow but I have this whole tribal thing I kind of can't get out of."

"That's fine; Wednesday night sounds great to me!"

"Great, I'll pick you up from your Grandmother's store around 6?" The animal inside of my body was so excited it wanted to jump out of my skin and do back flips, the realization hitting me I was being asked on a regular date for probably the first time in years. Even better that it was some one as intoxicating as everything about Jacob seemed to be.

"Sounds perfect, I'll see you then" I said, savoring his goodbye as we ended the phone call. Hearing his voice made me think of that mouth, his lips and our kiss on the beach. I was hoping I would get a replay of Wednesday night. You would have thought Grandma had been listening in on another line by how elated the look on her face became for me. She took my hands in hers and swung me around in a little circle of enthusiasm as I confirmed her suspicions about the upcoming date. Suddenly another realization hit me and the elation on my face began to dwindle into a look of disappointment and insecurity. We stood there, my grandmother still holding my hands, her brows furrowing at my sudden change of mood.

"What the matter lubita? You should be so happy?"

I looked up into her loving and sympathetic eyes which were filled with confusion. "It's just, well, even if this goes well, even if Jake does really like me after this date, what's the point?"

"What do you mean what's the point?" Her voice took a more serious tone.

"I just mean that eventually it will end up bad no matter what I do! I'll either have to tell him about me eventually and loose him because he'll be so horrified of what I am or leave him myself because I can't. I mean, maybe a bunch of meaningless conquests just makes more sense when you have such a horrifying secret that no one will want to stick around anyway."

"Marcela Canis Arcos," she scolded, bringing her index finger under my chin and raising it up so our eyes met each others, "if the magic inside you was meant to curse your heart with loneliness you wouldn't be here now. You know this, so stop fighting the happiness you know you deserve! This is a gift not a curse!"

Of course she was referring to my parents with the first statement, though I doubted pretty much anyone would be so lucky as to fall in love with another magical being out of happenstance. If I were to describe their love as something from a fairy tale I wasn't just eluding to the fact that they both transformed into giant wolves the size of small horses. Fate had seemed to purposely pull the two of them together; they were bound to each other by an invisible force that made the hardships we all had endured at the hands of our unusual powers effortless. They were a perfect and certain match. I could only pray that one day that would happen for me. Hell, anyone would.

A part of me was ashamed of me doubting myself, I knew I was a good person deserving of love just like everyone else. It just seemed so impossible given the unique situation I was in.

"Promise me right now you will not let these feelings spoil things for you. You need to just let life happen, you're far too young to have so many worries," she said.

"I really will try Grandma, I promise."

"Come, let's go make us some tea before we finish all this up" she gestured to the unopened boxes before leading me through the store front and down the hallway into the small kitchen again. By this time it was still pretty early in the morning and after the whistle signaled the pot of water was hot enough and the tea bags had steeped inside our mugs we made our way back out to the boxes. I sat on the floor arranging items as I pulled them out of their boxes as she leaned her elbows onto the counter next to the register, sipping on her tea.

"Do you remember when you were little Marcela? You used to love the fairy tales, Prince Charming riding in on his white stead to save the princess from an evil spell; do you remember what I told you?"

"Of course I do" I responding, continuing with my chores.

"And do you remember what I told you when you asked me about when your prince would come? Hmm, do you?" she was pushing me to repeat a story she already knew, but I didn't mind, I rubbed the place where my wolf tattoo was etched into my skin under my leggings before setting down a small box of laundry detergent and turning to face her.

"You told me that for me there would be no prince to save me, but someone better. That my perfect match would be more than a royal pretty face, but a brave warrior descended from warriors and that he would have the spirit of a wolf, like me."

"Some women don't need the idealistic prince to rescue them Marcela, you can rescue yourself just fine. You will have an equal, someone who will fight beside you as well as for you. Someone who will love the animal inside of you as much as the woman, it will happen. It's the truest vision my abilities have ever allowed me to see since your father met your mother."

I smiled at her softly. A tear tried to make its way out of the corner of my eye but I caught it on my knuckle, "That really does give me hope you know, I love that story. That's why this" I pointed to my thigh again, "means so much to me. Sorry for being such a bummer, sometimes I just feel so misplaced in the world."

"The big bad wolf has a heart after all," she joked a little trying to lighten then mood.

"I guess she does," I replied.

We opened up the store for the day after finishing stocking and we ended up being decently busy for a small town. Grandma had a few clients who had scheduled their monthly readings so I worked at the front desk and manned the register more than usual. I wasn't as useless around there as I sometimes felt and it made the day fly by comparatively. Leah stopped in on her way home from the gym with Seth for a cold sports drink and we made plans to meet up the following afternoon for a workout. I needed to blow off some of the whirlwind of emotions brewing inside of me and was more than happy to accept the invitation. I attempted to con her into letting Grandma do a reading on her, but she made it clear she was very apprehensive about having other people poking around inside her head, saying she dealt with that enough at home, whatever that meant. _Maybe Sue is a shrink or something, _I thought. I didn't bother her by asking_._

That night I made my way up into the bathroom before bed and decided to draw myself a hot bubble bath to soak away the day's stress. I stripped out of the now dirty clothes I'd been in all day. As I removed the oversized black tee shirt that had been my fathers I brought the bundled fabric up to my nostrils and inhaled deeply. A small whiff of his familiar wolf scent still lingered on it, musky and robust; I wished he could be here with me Friday to be my running mate. He was an unstoppable force on a hunt. I smiled thinking of how cool Leah had thought it was when I explained my Dad was more of an Iron Maiden fan than me. She had been pretty enthusiastic about the holey vintage tee.

I cut the water off and lowered myself slowly into the hot water beneath the floating mass courtesy of Mister Bubble, stopping only when my chin touched the top of the bubbles. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, folding my arms up behind me and running my hands up to rest on the back of my neck. With my thumbs I traced the only other set of scars I bared, sixteen raised indentions, two halves, creating a circular bite mark on the nape of my neck. It was funny to me that the only scars that never managed to heal themselves immediately on me were both inflicted by my parents. I promise they had the best of intentions in doing so. I almost feel asleep up there, daydreaming about running through the forest, full-on canine, bounding effortlessly over the leafy ground.

After I had so thoroughly soaked myself my fingers were beginning to prune I pulled myself out of the tub. I headed to my bedroom again to sleep knowing it was only a matter of days until my black furry paws hit the dirt again. What a comfort it would be to me.

(AN: Marcela Doubts Love: Ellie Goulding – I'll Hold My Breath, I freaking love this song by the way for Jake & Marcela/Anticipation of the full moon: Credence Clearwater Revival – Bad Moon Rising/In honor of Marcela's Dad's awesome metal shirt: Iron Maiden – Fear of the Dark)

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**Chapter End Notes:**

Okay, so here's my supposedly fun announcement! I created a tumblr blog/page for the story where I will be posting everything from banners to mock-ups of Marcela's many outfits. The songs I use in each chapter will posted (I'm going to have to do some catching up so I am up to speed with where I am at in the story so bare with me) and of course I'll be posting the Taylor pictures I use to inspire when I hit a creative block. The link is posted in my profile on here at the bottom of the page so please follow me if you have a tumblr or bookmark me so you can enjoy it!

I may also post a sneak peak of a chapter from time to time! Hope everyone enjoys this. Now I want to shamelessly suggest some stories by some writers I love on here in case anyone needs some new material to follow:  
ON FF:

The Songs of the Moon Series by Song of the Moon (best lemons, seriously, she's awesome)  
Silver Moon by 2Shaes

Under The Full Moon by All That's Left is a Girl

The Nightingale's Song by Tomboy101 – who I kind of beta for

On Twilighted:

How To Seduce A Werewolf by leelator (Amazing Bella/Jacob, story is aweeesome)  
Anger Management by mybrandofheroin (Best AU Paul fanfic for sure)  
Heart In A Headlock by bloodofbeckie (Bella/Jacob)  
Thanks again to everyone who follows & favorites or even just checks my story out – be sure to leave me a review on this chapter to help guide the next one which will be coming soon!


	9. Chapter 9: Tuesday

**AN: Sorry for the prolonged absence friends & followers! Things have been absolutely wild in real life. From just keeping up with my everyday workload to having my car involved in a hit and run to beta-ing others stories there just haven't seemed to be enough hours in the day or days in the week lately. My poor story has been neglected as a result. For way too long! I'm excited to get back to working on this new chapter & hopefully the next one won't take so long for me to write out either. Especially since I have had all these ideas swimming around and no time to actually release them!  
I'm writing from another character's point of view in this chapter other than Marcela & Jake's to try and mix it up some. Hope you like what Leah has to say and how I narrate for her. Thanks again for hanging in there with me!  
P.S. - Sorry for all the gym reference stuff, I'm kind of a huge gym rat/ lady meathead and it seemed like a good place for werewolves to ****meet/work.  
P.P.S. - Sorry if there are any needed corrections, I wanted to get this out as soon as I finished it since it had been so long, so I didn't even both sending it to my beta. Hopefully it isn't too awful.**

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**Chapter 9: Tuesday**

**Leah's POV:**

I haphazardly swung my jeep into one of the available spots left in the gym's small parking lot. I killed the engine, abruptly halting the blaring rock music that always accompanied my driving and hopped down from the driver's seat, picked up my gym bag and headed for the doors. I was looking forward to seeing my new friend today, even if I was sure the only thing we'd probably talk about today was boys. _A certain boy who I have way too much dirt on_ I thought to myself. It didn't matter though; my budding friendship with Marcela was a relief to me. It was something normal in my far from normal life, some one not involved in all this shape-shifter drama. Or any other supernatural crap period, _well, except for maybe her grandmother_, but I didn't really buy into any of that psychic stuff anyway.

As I entered I nodded a silent hello to Paul who was standing at his post behind the front desk flipping through a muscle magazine. Marcela came out from the ladies locker room already in her workout gear and approached me throwing a hand towel over her shoulder. "Ready to make all the guys in here look like wussies Leah?" she asked humorously, tilting her head in the direction of the weight lifting equipment.

"You know it!" I responded, motioning for her to give me a minute to lock my street clothes up in the locker room. When I had reappeared I crossed through the rows of treadmills and exercise bikes and joined her at the machine bench press. I rolled my eyes unenthusiastically, "Ugh, I hate using the machine."

"Yeah me too, but all the benches are taken somehow, so I guess we're stuck." She adjusted the weight on the machine so she could lift the whole stack and sat down; her back was flush to the seat as she tilted her pony-tailed head back against the headrest. As she rested her head and prepared to press the machine out she opened her eyes and I let out a small gasp.  
"Hey, Marcela … are you alright?" I asked hesitantly.  
Exhaling amidst her rep she looked up at me, giving me another glimpse of her eyes. The bright amber color that usually occupied her irises had all but disappeared fading into a much darker brown color that reminded me more of my own than hers. She pushed out a final rep before catching her breath, wiping the sweat beading from her brow. Her fatigue also struck me as odd, the Marcela I had seen squatting well over 300lbs wouldn't start beading sweat after her first set of the day.  
"I'm fine, just forgot breakfast this morning, so I guess I'm weaker than I thought."  
"Not the lifting Marcela, your eyes look weird. They're like, darker than normal…much darker. I wouldn't have said anything but your usual eye color is, well, pretty noticeable" I explained.

"I don't know, weather, fluorescent lights or something I guess" she shrugged it off standing up and stepping aside, gesturing to the seat of the machine with her hand indicating it was my turn. "It's not that weird Leah, people think their eyes look different when they wear certain colored clothes. It's some sort of weird optical illusion or whatever." She looked around with a slightly nervous look before continuing as I started pushing on the machine, "I am a little tired though, maybe that's why."  
"Clearly you aren't too tired" I admitted failure, getting up from the seat and readjusting the weight on the machine before returning to my previous position. _How can she be feeling tired and still be lifting more than me? I'm a werewolf with superhuman strength for fucks sake. _Maybe I was loosing my edge_. _I couldn't help but think her strength was a little odd, even for some one as fit as she appeared to be. _Maybe she really is on steroids or something. I need to stop being jealous and over analyzing _I told myself. Still it seemed strange.

We moved on after a few free weight exercises to the squat rack, as we began loading the weights onto the barbell we returned to a more normal mode of conversation and were comparing music tastes again. Her preferences were all over the place, but not everything she liked was too typical or awful. Then our friendly moment was inevitably interrupted by a familiar annoyance.

"Sooo Marcela" Paul bumped me out of the way, seizing the plate I was holding and loading it onto the barbell for me, "excited about that hot date with Jacob Black, La Push's most eligible bachelor yet?!" His feigned confidence was totally transparent; anyone who knew him well enough could sense the underlying jealousy. Marcela rolled her eyes at him, loading the last weight and walking around to the front of the rack, positioning herself under the massive amount of weight she'd staked onto it.

"Want some help with that little lady?" he positioned himself behind her, crossing his arms and eyeballing her suspiciously.

"Back off Paul, she's got this" I said, smiling at the knowledge that Paul himself couldn't squat the weight Marcela was about to drop on his best day. _Put him in his place Marcela _I silently cheered her on inside my head. Paul's eyes widened as he watched Marcela push through her first set pretty effortlessly. I could see she was indeed a little more fatigued today than she usually seemed to be and was struggling more than usual, but Paul was none the wiser and his look of shock was comedy gold to me.  
"Ten!" she counted confidently aloud. She racked the weight, took a deep breath and turned towards Paul smiling, "I think that answers your second question for you, doesn't it?" she teased. A hint of blush then spread across her cheeks and another small smile made it's way from the corner of her lips as she brought her eyes to Paul's, "And to answer your first question, yes, _very_." Paul looked slightly uncomfortable, knowing he had been bested but shook it off. I had kind of gotten the impression from Paul's teasing that he hoped maybe Marcela could be his friend too, even if he would _never_ get a date with her. If she had befriended the "un-friendable", the un-friendable being me, then maybe he had a chance to have a real friend too, outside the pack. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his mesh shorts, searching for a return to normal conversation.  
"Well, you're definitely worlds away from being anything like Bella if you can lift like that!" I immediately cut eyes at him, why did he have to bring _her_ up? I had managed to avoid questioning over Jake's past pretty well since I'd noticed Marcela & his weird attraction to one another, I didn't want to start down that road now and risk tainting my friend's date with him! Not to mention possibly tainting the one chance the rest of us had to get an escape from Jake's lovelorn mental dialogue!

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marcela's switch had flipped and she was a hundred percent intrigued now. _Great_ I thought_ so much for avoiding the boy conversation._

"What he means is Jake's ex was kind of an extreme damsel in distress type."

"Yeah, not to mention a totally annoying, ripped out his heart and threw away the pieces, fled town and married another dude damsel in distress" Paul rambled, causing Marcela's darkened eyes to dart back and forth between the two of us before landing them on me.  
"I suppose that's what you meant by baggage then?" she asked, smiling a little to assure me the admission hadn't bothered her that much. I nodded at her. "Well, everyone has a skeleton or two in their closet I'd assume, an ex they'd like to forget about, a secret…whatever." She leaned in a poked Paul in the sternum raising a questioning eyebrow. "I'm not a damsel in distress Paul and I'm not going to let your propensity for verbal diarrhea ruin my date either."

"Suit yourself, but don't say I didn't warn you about Mr. Damaged Goods" Paul smirked at her. I was just waiting for him to take another shot at suggesting he'd be a better option.  
"Aren't you supposed to be working or something?" I threw my fists up onto my hips and glared at him.

"Alright, alright" and he turned on his heel to head back towards the front desk. After gauging Marcela's expression and concluding that she wasn't upset by Paul's antics I adjusted the weight on the bar and positioned myself. As I was squatting I kept my eyes pinned on Marcela, behind her darkened eyes she looked like she was lost in thought. I stood up and turned to her.  
"Don't let him get to you."

"Oh don't worry he isn't. I'm just wondering what I'm really in for tomorrow night" she responded, "I haven't been on a date in…well, a really long time."

"Yeah, neither have I" I admitted and smiled up at her coyly, which caused us both to break out into laughter for some reason. "Hey you want to just call if quits here? I know it's the middle of the day but I have bottle of wine at bottle of wine at my place that I think may have our names on it."

"Hah, that actually sounds really good" she said sounding relieved. We headed for the locker room and changed back into our street clothes. Marcela called her grandmother to let her know she wouldn't be coming back to the store for dinner and that I'd give her a ride home later. We made our way down the roads of the Reservation and towards the home I shared with my mother and little brother, grateful Seth had chosen to go to a friend's house after school and wouldn't be interrupting our spontaneous day drinking session. I led Marcela from the Jeep to the small garage attached to our house. We tossed our bags onto the ground and Marcela settled into one of the thrifted arm chairs Seth & I had bought to turn the garage into our "away space" as we liked to call it.

"This is great Leah" Marcela said, kicking her legs over one of the arms of the chair, "and it's freaking gorgeous out here."

"There are worse places to grow up" I smiled as I lifted a dusty bottle of chardonnay from the mini fridge. "Of course, living here has its disadvantages. Everybody knows everyone else's business. It's like living in the ultimate small town, you know?"

"I lived in a motor home with my parents for 20 years Leah" she laughed goodheartedly, "so yeah, _ultimate small town_ resonates!" I handed her a full plastic solo cup of the honey colored liquid and plopped down on another chair next to her, bottle in hand. I raised the bottle in her direction and she extended her cup and met me in the middle, grinning goofily despite her still darkened eyes.  
"To big girls from very, very, very small places" I toasted and she brought the cup back to her lips and looked down into the very full cup.

"What the hell" she muttered, throwing back a big gulp. After a few moments of silence and listening to music on the radio Marcela turned in her arm chair towards me. "So, Leah, you're a total babe, how come none of these dudes have scooped you up yet?" I let out a long sigh knowing I was about to seal this friendship by exposing my own baggage. _Can't we just stick to Jake's exes _I thought to myself. "Sorry, I hope that didn't sound rude or anything" she apologized after noting my hesitation.  
"No, no, your fine" I assured her, before pulling a mouthful from the bottle, "I guess Jake isn't the only one with baggage around here. You met Sam & Emily at the cookout?" She nodded at me, "Well, the short version is that Sam was my first love and that Emily is my cousin."

"That's not awkward or anything" she responded.  
"Oh tell me about it, but it gets better. Sam and I were basically on our way to wedded bliss and then he suddenly decided that he and Emily were soul mates, were like, intended for each other and I got my heart broken, big time. His excuse being that it was like some natural force he couldn't deny to be with her." I pulled from the bottle again, "I mean, like he pulled the excuse right out of some sappy romance novel or some shit."  
"Wow."

"Yeah, I mean, by now I'm for the most part over the aching heart part of it, but it's like the wound constantly has to be reopened because I get to experience their joy from the sidelines alone constantly. And all of this while the rest of the community continues to label me the scorned ex-girlfriend." She extended her empty cup and I leaned over to refill it for her.  
"Well that's really lame" she said, "no one thought it was fucked up on her part that she was dating her cousin's boyfriend suddenly? I mean, seems a little incestuous to me, just saying" she shrugged her shoulder questioningly.  
"No, everyone around here feels really strongly about that soul-mate stuff. Whatever, that's fine. I just wish this whole Sam's Scorned Lover thing would blow over so every attractive male around here didn't look at me like a ticking time bomb." I had to down play my understanding of how Emily and Sam had ended up together. Explaining imprinting to a human would probably just make me sound like a nut job. I couldn't explain to her that the real reason I hadn't dated anyone was because I was scared of hurting some one else the way Sam had hurt me. She was looking at me with hurt in her dark eyes for me; it was nice that it was an understanding gaze and not the normal look of pity I usually received. "What about you? You got any asshole ex boyfriends?"

"Life on the road is not very conducive to lasting relationships. I pretty much have only casually dated people; nothing ever lasted longer than a month max. I just stopped caring eventually, it's not like they could follow my family when we had to leave." I could see her point, relationships were complicated enough to navigate without distance involved.  
"So you're more of the heart breaker then I guess?"

"Hah, I don't know about that" she laughed, a little snort coming from her nose, "maybe though?" Then she shot up in her seat and clenched her hand onto my knee, "Oh my God Leah, I wouldn't do that Jake. Never! I hope it didn't sound like I ..."

"Marcela! Calm down, I didn't think you meant anything like that!" I assured her and a small wave of relief passed over here. She was really wound up over him.  
"Hell yes, I love this song!" she jumped up from her chair and ran over to the little radio sitting a top the mini fridge and cranked the volume. Being a fan of all things rock n roll I immediately recognized the tune and couldn't control the laughter that poured from my mouth at the irony of the song blasting from the speakers.

_I saw a werewolf walking with a Chinese food menu in his hand  
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain_

_He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fooks  
Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein_

"You've got to be kidding me!?" I laughed and she grabbed my hands and yanked me up from the chair so that we were dancing around the room, wine still in hand. I joined in with her as we crooned the chorus together, my feet disjointedly dancing along with Marcela's better honed moves. It made me feel tipsier than I knew I actually was.

_Holy shit I'm having a normal girl moment_ I thought, and then the normalcy was abruptly shattered. As the 2nd verse came to a close and the chorus began again Marcela's "_Aaahoo"_ took on an uncharacteristically real howling tone. I mean, it was loud! It stirred the wolf inside me immediately the way it did if Sam called us. She immediately froze stark still, her eyes widening to the point they looked like they'd pop out of her head. I would have said something, but not only was I completely speechless at the moment but was almost positive I was making the same face she was, one of complete shock.

Just then Seth came barreling through the door at top speed, almost knocking it from its hinges. "Leah!" he panted, nearly out of breath, as if he's phased to get here from his friends house as quickly as possible, "What the hell was that?" I could see the pupils of Marcela's eyes dilate as they darted around rapidly. She still stood fast in front of me.  
"I…I, have to go" she said, "now!" She turned quickly, pushed past a confused looking Seth and began running out the door and past my car.  
"But Marcela" I called after her, "I drove you here! You can't …" but by the time I made it to the door to call after her she had rounded the bend and disappeared up the road and out of sight.

"That was weird" Seth said as I turned to look at him, grabbing my car keys from a nail on the wall.

"Yeah" I said grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the Jeep, "too weird, let's go!" I turned the ignition over and peeled out of the drive way and up the road, looking for her.

"She couldn't have gotten very far" Seth said, trying to reassure me, but the further up the road we got with no sign of her, the more my stomach began to turn. How had she put that much distance between us in just those few moments? Maybe she was cutting through the woods?

"Fuck it" I exclaimed as I spun the car into a u-turn heading back towards the house, "Maybe I overreacted and freaked her out! I mean, maybe she's just really good at animal impersonations?!"  
"Maybe" Seth agreed as we pulled back in front of the house, he didn't seem nearly as startled as I had been. "Great" he said noting a shirtless Quil & Embry standing at alert on our front porch as well pulled to a stop. I turned to him, "Let's not make a big deal out of this okay? Just let me do the talking." He nodded in agreement as we climbed out of the vehicle and made our way towards the front door, the two of them meeting us half way.  
"Are you two okay?!" Embry questioned putting his hand on my shoulder and looking into my eyes while Quil stood, arms crossed, scanning the tree line with his eyes.

"I'm fine" but I could see he only half believed me, I knew he could hear my heart beating inside my chest like a tribal drum, "Really, Embry, we're fine."

"Well then what the hell was that howling?" Quil interrogated.

"Marcela was over here, we were drinking and dancing and it just kind of slipped out okay" I lied, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to freak anyone out." We walked inside the house and I tried to act as natural as possible and not give myself away.

"That was you?!" Quil was laughing now, "Pretty impressive belt Clearwater!"

I looked over at Seth, him nodding at me realizing the lie had worked, these guys paid so little attention to me they wouldn't recognize my howl from the neighborhood dogs.  
"So what happened to Marcela then?" Embry asked. Being the smarter of the two he was obviously still a bit more skeptical of my last minute story.  
"She had to take off real fast, some emergency at her grandma's store or something. I'll give her a ring later and make sure she got home okay."

"Or that you didn't totally freak her out" Seth concluded, he couldn't stay out of a conversation, it was just fact.

"Right" I said, feigning some embarrassment. Even though I really kind of was, I mean maybe I shouldn't have stood there staring at her like she was a freak. She couldn't possibly anticipate a werewolf being in the room and reacting to her random excellent howling skills. Hell it had looked like she'd surprised her self even more than she's surprised me. _Ugh, I just want to forget this whole thing even happened. _

After the guys had raided my mother's fridge for whatever leftovers they desired they eventually left. Not before Embry advised me to keep in mind that there had been a rogue wolf on the loose less than a week ago and I should probably put my singing career on hold until the whole thing blew over. I guess I was lucky no one hear me. I hope Marcela made it home okay …

* * *

**Marcela's POV**

I felt like I was frozen to the floor. Leah and I stared at each other, saucer like eyes growing rounder and rounder with each passing moment. I'd never had to deal with my wolf showing so obviously around anyone but my parents and grandmother and now I didn't know what to do. I felt like I was trapped inside myself. My fear over possibly exposing myself and my wolf in any way immediately heightened all my senses. I could hear some one approaching from behind before Leah's brother came tumbling into the small dusty garage.  
"What the hell was that?!" he exclaimed.  
I was so embarrassed and also fearful of making things worse that I didn't react immediately. This may have not been the best way to react. My wolf senses were now leading me to the possibility that the racket I made may have alerted more than just Seth. My stomach was turning and cramping inside me, it felt like a fire was being lit underneath my skin, I had to get out of here and back home, now, fast!  
"I…I, have to go" I said shakily and then immediately turned on my feet, threw my bag over my shoulders and sprinted past Seth and out the door. I could hear Leah following behind me and shouting for a moment but I was too intent on getting out of view so I could run at full speed. My feet were running so hard against the gravel road I almost couldn't feel them. My hands clinched into fists as my arms pumped back and forth driving me faster and faster. After I rounded the corner I could hear her start her Jeep up to follow me.

_Fuck, don't chase me_ I thought shaking my head. Still in human form I darted into the forest line which ran beside the road as fast as my human legs could carry me. I knew I couldn't shift, I was too close to where I had seen the others like me, I didn't want to take any chances of them sniffing me out. I sprinted sure-footedly through the dense covering of trees until I knew I had put a good amount of distance between myself and Leah's home. Hell, I was probably more than half way back to Forks at the rate I was traveling.  
It took me less than 10 minutes more to make it into town. Then I slowed my pace for the sake of normalcy and jogged the rest of the distance back to Grandmother's store. I had really managed to screw this up. Not that I had expected my wolf to put on such a public display of ridiculousness in front of a human. How could I have known that this would happen?

I made my way immediately to my room and pulled my phone out of my bag, plopping onto my mattress to catch my breath. Unsurprisingly there were several missed calls and texts from Leah. What the hell was I going to tell her? Was I way too loud for me to just claim to be a master of animal impersonations? Maybe I had once moonlighted at the zoo as one of those animal handlers who makes the wolves howl by howling themselves?

_Oh for fucks sake, why can't you just be normal? What if you freaked her out so bad she tells Jake about this and he cancels your date tomorrow? What if you just managed to freak out the only real girlfriend you've possibly ever had? _

The questioning going on inside my head over this, really, silly situation was making me dizzy. One of the texts made it clear she wasn't mad, more worried that I had made it home okay. I shouldn't have run I should have played this off. I'd never exposed myself like that before and the running just exemplified the weirdness of the incident. I'd never really let loose around some one like that before either though. I had to make this right; I wasn't in a motor home anymore. I couldn't pack up tomorrow because I made a mistake and move on. So in true Marcela fashion, I decided I had to just bite the bullet and call her to apologize.

(AN: Leah & Marcela's Wine Song: Warren Zevon – Werewolves of London)

* * *

**Chapter End Notes:**  
**I had to include a song off my Halloween play list in there! Also I just wanted to include some scene of the wolves singing this together at some point because I thought it would be cute.** **Once again, sorry this chapter took so long to turn out. October is a crazy month if you do any sort of performance, which I do. I plan on taking a lot of lazy time in November to make up for it. Maybe I'll just hibernate with my laptop and write chapters. I know this isn't a super exciting chapter but I hope you enjoy it! Jake & Marcela's date is coming up in the next chapter. Here's a spoiler: it's still on. Her & Leah's friendship is still in tact too. So it's on everybody!**

**Don't forget to check out the blog I created to accompany the story! It's posted in my user info. It's also almost caught up too. That should be easier for me to find time to finish though. PLEASE REVIEW! Nothing makes me happier than seeing your notes in my inbox. Thanks to everyone who has given such kind reviews & PMed me. I kind of love this community. Especially of wolf girls! Until Next time!  
**


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